From the ashes, a fire shall be woken
by Ocadioan
Summary: The third part of my A dance of shadow and Light series. Mercury has left, sailed away to mend his broken identity, leaving Loivissa behind in Alagaësia with all that he once owned there. But now an invasion from the Ra'zac Empire threatens to swallow Alagaësia, and the dragon riders are powerless to stop it. Will Loivissa have to draw Mercury out of his exile, and at what cost?
1. Until now

Welcome back to Mammoth Monday! (now followed by Before Friday Thursday)

I am back! And woe to any that thought I would not be, for I have brought gifts as a reward for reading the chapter!

Hehe, now that my little rant is out of the way, I can make a proper introduction.

In case this is your first view, read the following, but if not, skip ahead.  
This story is the third part of my A dance of Shadow and Light series, which follows the changes that happened because of one person's influence at the start of Inheritance. This is NOT a self-insert(at least I hope that it is not, but you will get that later on) but rather an amusing thought experiment of what were to happen if a special kind of character was added to the story. Neither is this a fix-fic, as some things got worse and some got better because of the changes. If you are at all interested, I would advise you to start at The beginnings of the Shadow, before reading anything further, as things might be confused if dropped into the middle of a story with no background. Do it! But if you are slightly lazy, a timeline has been added as the first chapter of my side-stories.

As always, "**Bold text inside quotation marks means that the character is speaking in the Ancient language**", but unlike the previous two stories, "_Italics within quotation marks now means that the character is talking in the urgal language, and NOT the dwarven_".

Other than that, enjoy!

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**Until now**

**Loivissa POV(246 ADG, outside the Nolondil outer gardens)  
**It had been 75 years since the shade had been killed and Mercury had left Alagaësia. Loivissa had since taken up the lordship of Eregion, and had, with the aid of the dragon riders, rebuilt Nolondil almost as it once was in just a few short years. She was to this day still amazed over some of the features that Mercury in his time had invented and built into the place without anyone's knowledge, like the water purification system for example.

The main differences had been that Loivissa had converted the chamber, where Mercury's old study used to be, to her own bedchambers, instead of using Mercury's master bedroom, along with the fact that Nolondil had been rebuilt as a true outpost of the riders, which meant that she had had to increase the dragon hold.

Although she had at first tried to learn how Mercury had managed to train the shrrg, she had found no records of their training within the hidden library deep underneath Nolondil, and neither had anyone she met with had any idea of how to do this, so she had abandoned the idea and chosen to hire human guards in their stead. She had also had the hidden library copied and put on display again, along with whatever remained of the treasures hidden in the vault.

Nolondil had in time turned into the cultural hub of the entire region, and with that came huge amounts of gold from the Empire to support this place of learning. It had not been long after that when Loivissa had no longer needed the gold from some of the shadier of Mercury's investments to run the place, so she had broken off from them.

Classes with actual scholars and pupils had sprung up inside Nolondil quickly after the announcement too, which in turn had brought a great many people to come live there permanently.

The increase in visitors had also meant an increase in the contents of the library, which Loivissa had continued the tradition that Mercury started with, by copying everything that went into the library, down and placing the copy in the hidden library below.

Unlike Mercury however, Loivissa had in time entrusted this job to a few of the scholars that lived in Nolondil permanently, although they were still forbidden from speaking of this to anyone else, as the entire point of the hidden library was to act as a secret backup, should the primary one ever be destroyed again.

Loivissa still kept in touch with Mercury, although the correspondence was only in letters sent back and forth. Each exchange of letters could easily be months, if not close to an entire year apart, so it was rather sparsely, but it was still there nonetheless.

From what Loivissa could tell from the letters, Mercury seemed to be doing well enough in recuperating, although he never actually mentioned what exactly he was doing or where he was sending the letter from. He would, however, often send a small present of some kind along with the letters, especially after a long period of absence.

It was always a mystery to Loivissa what he would send next. One time, he had sent a small painting of a flowing waterfall, where there was green grass and bushes at the bottom, but you could still see the ice covering the top of the waterfall. Loivissa doubted that Mercury had been the painter of the picture, but she had no doubt that he had been the one to order the painter to paint the landscape.

Another time, he had sent a small rock-like object, which Loivissa had since put on display in the museum, as it was something that she had never seen, nor heard of, before. The rock was a small purple rock with countless tiny multifaceted indents protruding out from its sides, which all seemed to be a random number of squares formed together, like a jigsaw with a million different pieces. No matter how long Loivissa continued to study it, she still seemed to always find just one more piece that she had not noticed before.

Currently, Loivissa was walking towards the outer gardens of Nolondil. This was another of the changes that she had made since taking over Eregion. The outer gardens were placed inside the massive walled-off area that had previously been plain grass planes.

They were located near the part of the wall that was closest to the summit of Eregion, right next to the lake that supplied the water to all of Nolondil. The outer gardens were a fenced off area that boasted a wide range of plants, flowers and miniature trees and bushes, which were all cut in various shapes and sizes. They also had small paths running through them to allow people to travel through them and enjoy the scenery without trampling the plants.

Small streams of water from the nearby lake ran through the garden, and had in several cases been shaped into miniature waterfalls and used to drive small watermills, which would then be used to lift some of the water up through a statue and spray it out as a gentle stream.

As Loivissa neared one of the gardens' gates, the pair of human guards guarding it snapped to attention at the sight of her. When she arrived there, they promptly gave a small bow, while simultaneously muttering, "my lady".

"At ease, gentlemen", Loivissa replied, as she stopped in front of them.

It had been difficult at first to get used to being called 'my lady' whenever she met with any humans not of noble birth or a dragon rider, and she had tried to make them stop calling her that in the start, but had since then learned that it made them even more insecure about what to do without some sort of social hierarchy to cling to, so she had eventually stopped trying altogether.

"Was there anything else, my lady?", the eldest of the guards spoke, as he noticed that she had not proceeded inside the gardens, but had stopped in front of them instead.

"Has there been any word from the Ushnark tribe or any other of our allies?", Loivissa questioned the guards, which the eldest responded to, "I am afraid not, my lady. Their silence as of late has me worried".

"Very well, try to contact them again, but prepare for the worst and expect another night-time lethrblaka raid tonight", Loivissa said.

"The guards will stand ready at the towers, and the ballistae will be ready to receive them, should they choose to come", the elder guard answered, before he motioned for the younger one to go spread the word.

"Is she still inside?", Loivissa questioned after the other guard had run off.

"I believe so, my lady", the guard answered her, before he opened the small wooden gate to allow her entry into the gardens.

As Loivissa walked through the gardens, she began to reminisce about how it had all come down to this.

When Mercury had left, he had left a note behind that had warned them of the possibility of something happening in the south. The warning had, however, fallen on mostly deaf ears, as no one inside the Surdan government had taken it seriously, which had left the job of following up on it with the riders.

Evandar, Loivissa and their parents had managed to convince the council to search the sea in the area for two years, but had found nothing of interest, so the searches had been called off. Evandar however still believed that something was amiss, so he chose to continue patrolling the southern sea for another three decades after that, before he eventually gave it up as a waste of his time too.

It really was too bad that they had given up their patrolling, because if they had not, then Alagaësia might have been more prepared for what had happened since then.

36 years after Evandar flew his last patrol, seven years prior to now, two massive armadas of men suddenly appeared in Reavsten and Aroughs and captured the coastal cities within hours of their surprise attacks. No one even managed to get word out to warn the rest of Alagaësia, so when the armada from Reavsten suddenly attacked Aberon a few days later, the defenders were woefully unprepared and quickly swept aside.

The Surdan royal family had been summarily rounded up and executed by the conquering armies, which then finally declared their presence and the purpose of their conquest to the rest of Alagaësia.

They were armies sent from the empire of the original homeland of the humans, from which Palancar in his time had fled, and they were in Alagaësia to bring the traitors that fled back into the fold.

With the removal of the Surdan royal family, they claimed the land as their own by ancient rights. The Empire and its vassal state of Teirm would however not acknowledge their claims, and so, in accordance with the ancient treaty that bound the human kingdoms together in mutual defence of one another, they declared war on the newcomers.

Messengers were sent out to both the elves, urgals and dwarves to request aid in this war, but each of the races, who had long since forgotten their old alliances and did not wish to involve their respective nations in what was essentially a human internal affair, turned down their request for aid.

The dragon riders also had to turn down the request for aid, as the old treaties limiting their actions within the Alagaësian nations forbade them from interfering in internal affairs among the races, unless requested to do so by at least three out of the four main races of Alagaësia.

So the Empire had marshalled its massive armies and sent them down south with high hopes that they would be able to expel the invaders by themselves with the sheer mass of volunteers and conscripts that were pouring in.

It had turned into the worst military fiasco in Alagaësian history.

The day had started off well enough with the two armies making camps on either side of the planes near Cithrí, while sending messengers back and forth to try and negotiate the other's surrender. When negotiations failed, the two armies had lined up in front of one another to do battle, and in an attempt by the imperial generals to emulate the victory of the Varden on the Burning Plains during the Rider War, the numerically superior imperial army had broken into a full on charge.

The charge had done nothing more than tiring the men out and providing the enemy's archers with excellent targets. Countless had fallen before the two armies had even met, and when they had met, the enemy lines did not falter and waver, as had been hoped, but instead they stayed strong and held their ground with a contempt for death that no imperial soldier could understand.

It was then, when the two armies were engaged in melee combat, that the true masters of the enemy showed their faces. With terrifying screeches, a horde of lethrblaka launched from behind the enemy line and began descending upon the imperial army, like hawks picking off mice.

The sudden development had spread utter chaos inside the imperial army, which soon turned into a full-fledged rout. Only a quarter of the men originally participating in the fight made it out with their lives intact, even less were still able to continue fighting.

The loss did however have some sort of benefit to it, as, with the new development of the lethrblaka and ra'zac as the leaders of the invading armies, the riders, with Eragon in the lead, found a loophole that dictated that since this could technically be considered a continuation of the Ra'zac War from before the Fall, they were free to aid the Empire in its struggles.

The timely intervention of the dragon riders secured the beaten imperial army's retreat to the north and stalled, what was now dubbed the Ra'zac Empire's army's march north, although they were not able to stop them, as the numerically superior lethrblaka and the still intact ra'zac army made it impossible for the dragon riders to engage in anything other than skirmishes.

Their advance was stopped at the old Surdan border from before the Rider War, although this had more to do with the ra'zac choosing to stop, than the efforts of the dragon riders and the Empire.

The Ra'zac Empire, by now believing its victory over the rest of the human kingdom to be secure, launched a surprise attack against the dwarves next. The attack would have been a complete success that would have no doubt scattered the dwarven clans before they could even muster their armies, if not for two brave sentries that had chosen to sacrifice their own lives in order to give the dwarven kingdom a fighting chance by collapsing the tunnel around them, thereby stalling the ra'zac's army's march until it could be cleaned up.

Their sacrifice gave the dwarves enough time to muster enough men to set up barricades in the tunnels leading to Surda, along with closing off most of the previously open gates from the sea to the Hadarac-desert.

When the ra'zac army had finally cleared the debris, they had been faced with entrenched dwarves, who were accustomed to living, moving and fighting in the tunnels, where the men from beyond the sea clearly were not.

Without their lethrblaka support, the ra'zac army faced dozens upon dozens of defeats in the tunnels, until the ra'zac leadership eventually called their attacks to a halt and instead ordered them to dig in to prevent the dwarves from marching forward in turn.

The action of attacking the dwarves also served to rally the remaining races of Alagaësia together to create a joined front against these invaders, but because of the Empire's earlier defeat, they were unable to put up much resistance as the Ra'zac Empire took Feinster, Melian and Furnost with hardly any effort.

The attacks had been unexpected, as it had been deemed that the Ra'zac Empire would not have the strength necessary to initiate three simultaneous sieges at once so shortly after losing so many men in the tunnels of the Beor mountains, and with a large part of their army still hold up in them, but the Ra'zac Empire had in the meantime used the captured coastal cities to bring in massive reinforcements.

A few years later, the combined Alagaësian forces had had to concede Belatona as well, while the Ra'zac invaders in the meantime turned Feinster into their major seat of power in Alagaësia, because of its massive harbour and strategic location.

At present day, the dwarves are still able to hold down a large part of the ra'zac army inside the tunnels in what has quickly turned into a trench war, with no one really winning or losing any ground, although they are only able to continue this because of the massive amount of supplies flowing in from the elves via the Âz Ragni river.

The imperial navy have managed to prevent the ra'zac armadas from landing any forces further north by using the Boar's Eye to cripple one of the armadas, while using Sharktooth island as a naval base to prevent any landings in Kuasta or Teirm.

Dras Leona has been under siege for the last two years, only holding out and preventing starvation because of the water convoys that flows through Leona-lake, which the Empire still controls due to the Ra'zac Empire's armadas' ships being too large to go upstream and entering it.

Meanwhile, Ilirea protects the eastern route to the northern parts of the Empire, but fails to prevent the lethrblaka raids flying through the Spine and up north to terrorize the northern villages, which are crucial for maintaining supplies to the southern besieged cities.

The urgals, whom originally dwelled inside the Spine, have no effective means of stopping these lethrblaka raids, and instead are forced to hide whenever the lethrblaka arrive, so another plan was formed. Nolondil was turned into a military outpost, had watchtowers with ballistae installed all across the outer walls and inside the towers of the main castle, while a garrison of two thousand men were stationed there to man the walls.

The urgal tribes, among them the Ushnark tribe, would then warn Nolondil of any new raids coming their way, which Nolondil would then be able to intercept and prevent from wreaking havoc.

Nolondil's new fortifications also served another purpose, as it, along with a heavily fortified Daret and Gilead, would act as the next line of defence if Ilirea and Dras-Leona were to be overrun.

The dragon riders had suffered major losses too; among them was Fagosh the Grey. He, along with many others, had died in one of the early skirmishes, back when the dragon riders had just gotten engaged in the war.

As a result of the loss of so many seasoned and experienced riders, the order had been forced to cut the training of some of the newer ones short in order to be able to replenish their ranks.

Despite these losses however, the eldunarya had not been taken into combat yet, as to do this, the order was required to hold a vote for all the elder riders, where at least 90% of them would have to agree on it. The rules had initially been set into place to prevent misuse of the eldunarya, and to lessen the chances in which a rider could become tempted by the amount of power that the eldunarya would give him or her, thereby becoming another Galbatorix.

As Loivissa let these thoughts drift from her mind, she took the time to enjoy the gardens around her. They truly were beautiful, and whatever troubled her mind, she had found that the peaceful aura of this place could soothe it.

Ahead of her, Loivissa thought she could hear children's laughter, so she quickened her pace slightly. Soon enough, she was able to see source of that laughter. It was a little girl, no more than nine years old, standing on a small wooden arched bridge with railings on the sides that had a small stream flowing down below it.

She had long flowing raven hair, green eyes, a gentle face, which was lid up in a smile, and she wore a cream-coloured dress that reached all the way down to her ankles.

When she sensed Loivissa's presence, her head turned around to look at her, before she burst into a full on sprint towards Loivissa while shouting, "auntie!", before she enveloped Loivissa's waist in a fierce hug, which Loivissa returned as soon as she recovered from the sudden impact.

"So what has my favourite niece been doing all morning?", Loivissa questioned her niece, as they parted from each other, although her niece, Helen, kept a fierce grip on Loivissa's right hand.

"It does not count that I am your favourite, when you do not have any others", Helen said and pouted.

"That does not make you any less of my favourite though", Loivissa shot back, before she playfully added, "although, if I were to have another, then you might have some serious competition".

Helen was stricken for a moment at the prospect of her auntie having another favourite, before Loivissa laughed and lifted her into her arms, while saying, "do not worry, you will always have a very special place in my heart".

It was true, the stars would know that Loivissa loved her niece very much, although she could not always help but feel sad when she thought about never having a daughter of her own. That was a possibility that had been forever barred by a wicked twist of fate 75 years ago, but most days, Loivissa managed not to think of it.

"Auntie?", Helen asked from her position in Loivissa's arms, as she noticed that Loivissa had zoned out.

"Sorry, I was just lost in thought", Loivissa apologized and promptly lifted Helen to sit on her shoulders and began walking down a random path, "but what have you been up to all morning?"

"I made grass boats and followed them downstream from where the water from the lake enters the gardens", Helen answered proudly.

"That sounds nice", Loivissa said, as she continued walking, "guess what, I have a special surprise for you".

"What is it?", Helen answered with all the joy of a child expecting a present on her birthday, "is it another painting from that special friend of yours?"

Helen was one of the few people that knew that Loivissa was still in contact with Mercury, and whom Loivissa had one day decided to show some of the gifts that he had sent her over the years. Helen had initially inquired as to who he was and whether they were mates.

Loivissa had spluttered at the final question and managed to answer her that, no, they were not mates, although she had confided in her niece, after making her promise not to tell anyone, that she had once had a small crush on him, but that he had had to leave before she could ever confess her feelings.

Since then, Loivissa had slowly come to realize that her crush had been a silly one. Of course Mercury had thought of her as nothing more than a child needing protection and guidance at the time, so the feelings had slowly been allowed to fade away.

"Auntie, you spaced out again", Helen chuckled from her perch at Loivissa's shoulders.

"Right, sorry", Loivissa muttered as she shook her head clear of her errant thoughts, "no, it is not from my friend, but I think you will like the news nonetheless. I have just received word that Nolondil has been chosen to host the next war meeting between the races in a month".

"Does that mean that daddy is going to come here?", Helen squeaked hopefully.

"As a matter of fact, he told me that your mother was able to free up her time to accompany the meeting as well", Loivissa answered, which made Helen squeak with joy.

When Evandar had been stripped of his position as the leader of the dragon riders in Alagaësia 75 years ago, he had suddenly found himself without the responsibility of leadership hanging over his head all the time, and had suddenly had both the time and energy to pursue more private interests.

He and Celiste had since then become much closer, and in less than a decade after the shade's death, they had become mates. Helen had then been born two years prior to the Ra'zac Empire's invasion, and had been named after Celiste's mother.

When the Ra'zac Empire invaded, Evandar was among the ones to go out and fight them in the early skirmishes, while Celiste stayed behind in Ilirea, as one of the lead healers, together with their two year old daughter.

When Belatona fell and Dras-Leona came under siege, Ilirea, the previous safe haven of the Empire, suddenly found itself under the constant threat of coming under siege. It was therefore that almost all of the families in Ilirea with relatives in the north had sent their children north to be safe, while they stayed behind to help in the war effort in whatever way they could.

As dragon riders and talented mages, Evandar and Celiste had been too precious to spare, so they had been forced to send their seven year old daughter into the safe care of her aunt in Nolondil.

The only reason that Loivissa was not sent down south to aid at the front lines, along with the rest of the dragon riders, was that her situation was a bit more peculiar than most'. Her status as a noble of the Gilead province bound her responsibilities to Eregion as well as her oath to the dragon riders, while Nolondil's strategic position made it a valuable asset to the war effort by forming the next line of defence, along with acting as a shield for the north from lethrblaka raids from the Spine.

"Auntie…", Helen said slightly nervously, as they continued to walk the peaceful paths of the outer gardens, "when do you think that the war will stop, and the bad people will go away?"

That was a loaded question for Loivissa to answer. On one hand, Loivissa did not want to lie to her niece, but on the other hand, she definitely did not want her to be scared and upset by telling her the complete truth. Loivissa honestly was in doubts about whether they would win the war at all, seeing as the hordes of the Ra'zac Empire were seemingly endless, evidenced by the newer stopping flow of reinforcements arriving from the sea.

To be honest, even with the massive aid of the urgal and elven armies at their backs, the Ra'zac Empire continued to beat them bit by bit. If things did not change, and the Ra'zac Empire was able to continue supplying fresh men constantly, then Alagaësia would likely be overrun within the next decade, but that was not something you could tell a small nine year old girl, who feared for her parents' safety.

"I am sure that it will not be much longer. We just have to stay strong a little longer", Loivissa answered her niece, before she tried to cheer her up by saying, "now, would you like to see something really pretty? I have a special scale in our secret hide that can show a rainbow by sending light through it".

"Really?!", Helen asked excited, successfully diverted from thinking of her parents' possible deaths.

"Yes, really, but you must remember that you promised never to tell anyone of that place, all right?" Loivissa cheerfully said.

"Yes, yes, I know. I am not to tell anyone of it, and am to go down there and stay there until you come get me, whenever I hear the warning bells", Helen said monotonously.

"That is right", Loivissa chuckled, before picking her niece off of her shoulders and setting her on the ground, "now, who do you think will be the first to reach the master bedroom, hmm?"

Loivissa had not even finished speaking before Helen had already started sprinting with all the force that her little legs could muster.

Yes, with Helen here, Loivissa could not give into despair for even a single moment. She had to be strong for her niece's sake at least, and, if worse came to worse and Nolondil became an active war zone, then she would secure transport for Helen to reach the elven capital of Ellesméra to live in safety with her great grandmother, the queen of the elves.

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So, good start? Narh, I know what you really want; the gifts!

Besides the newly added timeline in my Side-stories, I have also worked together with a good friend of mine to produce the following characterization of my male protagonist: ocadioan dot deviantart dot com/ art/ My-main-protagonist-Mercury-Iridium-after- 0-ADG-383855104

A link will also be found on my page.


	2. Arrivals

And so we have come to Before Friday Thursday(I have to admit that I asked the friend that drew the portrait of Mercury if he wanted to name Thursdays and this was what he came up with, but it still kind of fits, as Thursday is often considered the day before Friday, even going so far as to being nicknamed 'little Friday' in my country.

Anyway, that was not what you wanted to read about, so here it is. Enjoy

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**Arrivals**

**Loivissa POV  
**Loivissa was standing in front of the gate leading into Nolondil. Instead of the two living shrrgs that had been on either side of the holly doorway that had there on Mercury's time, there now were two marble statues of shrrgs sitting on their hind, while facing outwards.

Ahead of the statues were two contingents of 10 guards in full armour plating with halberds held firmly in front of them, while facing towards each other on two lines on either side of the paved road.

Loivissa herself was wearing a polished steel breastplate with _his_ house's crest, a white scroll and a crooked black dagger on either side of a silver plate, with the words, 'knowledge is the power to choose for thy self' written in between in the Ancient language.

On her legs, she had some simple black leather leggings, while her sea-blue coloured rider sword, Aiedail, rested in its sheath on her hip. A red cloak that complemented her red eyes, hung from her shoulders and down her back, and on her index finger on her right hand, the signet ring of the Sidhe house was snugly located.

On her left, Loivissa's niece, Helen, was dressed in a red dress to match Loivissa's cloak, although Helen's choice of dress had been unknown to Loivissa until the girl had shown up fully dressed at the gate.

The reason for most of the people present being there, and the fact that they were all dressed up, as Loivissa hardly considered her current equipment to be optimal for battle, was just coming out of the forest ahead.

First came three heavily armoured human knights riding on white horses. Behind them came their charges, the current High Queen of the Empire, Alarice, the great great granddaughter of High Queen Nasuada, who once led the Varden to victory against the forces of the mad King Galbatorix, and her husband, who used to be the second prince of the Surdan royal family, which coincidentally made him the single remaining heir to the Surdan throne.

She was dressed in a simple white cloak that covered her features, although you could still see the crown on her ebony hair, as she rode upon the white horse, while he was dressed similarly, except that his horse was jet black and that his cloak was the orange hue of Surda.

On either side of the two, a contingent of 20 armoured men walked, while the rest of their entourage rode behind the High Queen and High King consort, before the line ended with another three knights.

"Presenting her imperial majesty, High Queen Alarice and his imperial majesty High King consort Larkin, King in absentia of Surda", the middle of the knights in front bellowed out as they neared the two lines of guards with halberds, before the royal guards spread out to either side to allow the entourage unhindered passage forward.

When the royal pair made it to Loivissa and Helen, Helen curtsied with all the mannerisms of a perfect young lady, while murmuring, "your majesties". Loivissa, on the other hand, was forced to give a short bow because of her clumsy attire, as she greeted the two at the same time as Helen.

"Lady Loivissa, it is good to see you again. You look just as youthful, as the day we were instated as High Queen", High Queen Alarice said politely, "we do hope that utilizing your fiefdom has not caused too many troubles".

"None at all, your majesty", Loivissa politely answered, not that she would say anything else to her, lest a scandal would ensue, "but I must say that your majesty still looks splendid as well. Age has barely left a mark on you".

"Polite as ever", High Queen Alarice murmured, before she asked, "would you be so kind as to show us to our rooms?"

"A page awaits you inside to show the way", Loivissa said, "should you need anything, he will be at your service for the remainder of your stay here".

The pair was quickly ushered inside, before the process of greetings and meaningless pleasantries continued with the rest of the entourage, until all had finally been ushered through.

When Loivissa looked up again, she took note that all but two of the royal guards had already been led to their accommodations by the two guards, who had previously stood the farthest out on the lines. Their spot had then been replaced by the remaining two knights, who would stay there until all the others had come, and they were told to disperse. It was done to show which entourages had already arrived.

Next out of the forest was the elven entourage. It was surrounded by twelve guards in leaf-green metal armour, where half were carrying spears, while the other half carried leaf-bladed swords on their hips and bows on their back.

In the middle of the guards, Queen Islanzadi rode, while her considerably smaller entourage rode behind her. She was dressed in her golden scale armour, a red cape with a white edge and a beautifully decorated helmet with opals and other gemstones.

When Queen Islanzadi reached Loivissa and Helen, Loivissa touched her lips with her fingers and then twisted her right hand in front of her sternum, before she said the first line of the elven greeting. Queen Islanzadi replied in kind, before the procedure was then repeated with Helen.

Only then did the queen speak more freely, "**it is good to see you again, granddaughter of mine. You as well, Helen alfa-kona**".

"**Indeed, it has been too long since I last walked the forest of Du Weldenvarden without worry, but alas, my duties are tied here**", Loivissa replied.

Queen Islanzadi might have loosened up a little when Evandar and Loivissa were born, but that was only out from the public eye. Loivissa would have been shocked if her grandmother had done anything even remotely to suggest familiarity between the three in public. They could always catch up later in private.

Soon enough, the elves had been greeted and ushered inside, while two elven guards replaced the next in line of Loivissa's own guards.

The dwarves were the next to arrive, and after repeating the process of greeting their current king, Toyk of Dûrgrimst Vrenshrrgn, along with his entourage, the guests that Loivissa had looked forward to the most arrived.

Their arrival was signalled by the flapping sound of wings reverberating through the air, as five dragons landed on the planes in front of Nolondil. Their passengers were the commander of the dragon riders in Alagaësia, an elf by the name of Lifaen, two relatively young guards, a human and an urgal, who Loivissa highly suspected of having recently graduated, and, finally, Helen's mother and father.

Loivissa was a little shocked that Helen managed to contain her excitement at seeing her parents for the first time in almost an entire year, instead of running full throttle towards them as soon as she saw them, as Loivissa had feared that she would.

Loivissa quickly exchanged formal greetings with what was technically both her superior and not, another reason why dragon riders refrained from gaining nobility among the lands of Alagaësia, before the turn came to greet her brother and sister-in-law.

Loivissa had hardly managed to get the first syllable out before both of them were tackled by a blur of red. After composing themselves, and seeing as there was no one else to greet at the moment, as the other two riders had taken up position next to the dwarves in the two lines, the mates released Helen's death grip on them and greeted Loivissa properly with a hug from her brother and a hug and a swift kiss on the cheek from her sister-in-law.

"I hope she is not causing you too many troubles?", Celiste asked, to which Helen pouted adoringly and said, "I am not. I am a fine young lady, like my auntie".

Loivissa giggled at her niece's antics, before she said, "no, she is a delight to have here. Even the guardsmen talk about how much more lively the place is with her here".

"And what of her education? Is she having trouble keeping up with anything, or is there anything that we might help with, while we are here?", Evandar asked.

"Her education is proceeding nicely. One of her tutors even told me the other day that he thought that she might be gifted, and she has begun to show signs of magical talent as well", Loivissa answered.

"Splendid, we are so proud of her", Celiste said, before she was interrupted by Helen saying, "mum, I want to show you and dad a painting".

"Would it be alright if we left you here?", Celiste asked with only a tiny amount of pleading for time alone with their daughter shining through.

"Go, I will be fine alone. It is just the urgals left, so I doubt that I will need that much support from Helen for that", Loivissa said to the visible relief of the parents, who were at this time being more or less pushed through the doorway by their daughter.

Right, now to wait for the urgals to arrive. It could be a long wait until they arrived, as Loivissa had often found that the ones who lived closest by were usually the last ones to arrive. In a way, she kind of wished that the dragon riders had been last, as then she would at least had had Helen to help pass the time, although if given the choice, she would have had the dragon riders come first to give Helen some more time with her parents.

Still, Loivissa did not exactly look forward to being screamed at by the heads of the seven largest urgal tribes. It usually left a ringing tone in her ears when greeted by more than four urgals, who all wanted to greet her in the proper wartime manner.

**Time skip(later during the night)  
**Later that evening, a banquet had been held to commemorate everyone for arriving safely, without incidents and, most importantly, in complete secrecy.

If the ra'zac empire was to learn that all the important leaders of the nations of Alagaësia were gathered in one place, then they would most likely do everything in their power to make sure that that place was raided and burned to ground. Preferably with the leaders still inside of it.

To avoid this, they had leaked information about other false meetings at entirely different places and times, while also making actual arrangements, both official and unofficial, to have other places prepared for their arrival.

King Toyk was supposedly leading his troops in the tunnels in the Beor-mountains right now, while Queen Islanzadi was supposed to be at her palace in Ellesméra, High King consort Larkin was on a hunting trip north of Ilirea, while the High Queen was supposedly in a three-day meeting with her generals in Ilirea.

That was why Loivissa was thoroughly unnerved when she heard someone pounding on her door late at night. After quickly dressing herself in a morning robe, she opened the door to find the captain of the night shift standing outside.

In Loivissa's opinion, he looked slightly unnerved, a little bit impatient and…angry? Loivissa could not tell exactly, as the captain had always been good at reigning in his emotions, and Loivissa had never had the talent for studying other people that her mother, grandmother and Mercury all had.

"Report!", she ordered briskly.

"My men found the bodies of one of the patrols hidden in the bushes a short while ago. Their bodies were still warm", the captain reported.

"Barzûl, have extra guards watching every in and out of every doorway in this castle and double the patrols around the walls. No one leaves this place", Loivissa ordered, "then I want you to gather teams to scour the plains outside. I will lead one of them personally, but do not wake any of the guests. They need not be worried yet".

"Yes, my lady", the captain bowed and turned to leave, but before he did so, Loivissa caught his arm and said, "remember, I want them ALIVE".

As the captain left to carry out his orders, Loivissa slipped out of the morning robe and proceeded to don her old rider's travelling armour, along with her sword and a small knife strapped to her thigh. The riders' travelling armours were much better suited for this kind of thing than the ceremonial one that she had worn earlier, as they were considerably lighter and did not make as much sound, but could still protect you to a certain degree.

As she finished dressing, Loivissa walked briskly out of her chambers, quickly followed by the two guards outside her door, and down towards the plains.

_It is a cloudless night, the stars are shining clearly and the moon is almost full. I wonder whether why fate is being kind to us now_, Loivissa mused, as she passed a window on her way, _now how to best utilize these advantages? The weather means more light, which means that the infiltrators will probably be trying to hide in places with coverage, but if they know that they have been spotted, then they might expect us to make this rationalisation and hope that we spread our guards too thin otherwise. Plus, we do not know whether they are mages or not, so I will need to set up most of the mages around the wall to prevent them from simply walking away invisible_.

Not for the first time did Loivissa wish that she had been able to tame some shrrgs, as they would have certainly been able to pick up the scent and track it down.

As she finally exited the castle and stepped out onto the plains inside the walls, Loivissa came face to face with the captain of her guard and about two dozen others, who all seemed to be waiting for her. About half of them carried torches in one hand and a sword in the other, while the other half were equipped with either a bow and arrow or a halberd.

"I have done as you instructed, my lady", the captain said when she emerged, "the patrols have been doubled, the castle is being watched and I have taken the liberty of adding mages to the men patrolling the wall to ensure that no one escapes by a simple trick of magic".

This was why Loivissa liked her captain of the night shift. He always seemed to anticipate whatever she decided to order ahead of her actually saying it. The few times that his orders diverted from hers were most often times when she, after a quick explanation form him, realized that his orders were better.

It was not that she was incompetent of leading, as every dragon rider had to take at least some courses in it, but she had never had the oversight to actually manage such affairs with the same proficiency as those actually trained in it.

Truth be told, she had actually relied completely upon her two years' worth of borrowed memories from Mercury in the start, which was not really that good of a base for her, as that was memories from not only a different type of leading a completely different organization, but from an era of immense espionage, paranoia and the constant threat of assassination. Really, now that she looked back on it, Loivissa could not fathom why it had seemed such a good idea at the time.

Luckily, the previous captain of the night shift, the current one's grandfather actually, had after a few months had the courage to step up to her and correct her. He had done so quite harshly, if Loivissa remembered correctly. After that incident, she acknowledged that she was actually just grappling at straws with this, which he had snorted at and said that if he had told her at the start, he would have been more than happy to advise her on what he knew.

Loivissa had soon after turned the captain of the night shift into the de facto leader of all the guards, and she had in time come to rely upon both his and his heirs' expertise when it came to such matters.

Snapping out of her musings, Loivissa refocused her attention on the problem ahead and said, "I assume that this is my search party?", while nodding towards the two dozen men.

"Yes, I will stay here and coordinate our efforts, while your team, and the six others like it, scour the grounds for any intruders", the night captain spoke.

"What is with the torches? They are more likely to give away our position than to aid us in seeing anything", Loivissa asked.

"Humans do not have as keen eye sight as elves, my lady, and the perpetrators will be able to see us anyway, so we might as well try to improve our odds", the captain dismissed her questions.

"Very well, good hunting", Loivissa said in parting, which was soon answered by, "the same to you", before she led her men out into the plains to begin searching.

Several hours passed without any incident, in which time Loivissa began to question whether the infiltrators had managed to slip past their net. She certainly hoped not, as it would be unacceptable if anyone from the ra'zac empire managed to learn of this meeting.

"My lady, the captain has a report for you!", a voice cut through the air, which made all the men around Loivissa point their weapons in its direction.

When the voice came into the light of the torches, Loivissa saw that it was a messenger that she actually knew, well knew worked here anyway, and quickly told her men to stand down, before looking at the boy and briskly said, "what is it?"

"The captain says that one of the other teams have chased two humanoid figures inside the outer gardens. He has had the gardens sealed off, but is waiting for your order to go in and apprehend them", the messenger boy quickly relayed.

"Figures that they would end up being trapped in there", Loivissa snorted, "tell the captain that I will be arriving shortly with my team to aid in the search, but that he is free to do as he finds best until then".

"Yes, my lady", the messenger boy answered, before he ran off into the darkness.

Twenty minutes later, Loivissa found herself realizing that although the outer gardens were quite beautiful in the day, they seemed far more eerie and sinister during the night, where the shadows and lack of light made everyone look as if it was about to pounce on you. Not a very good feeling to ignore when you were hunting for what seemed to be professional infiltrators with nothing to lose, while also being quite tiring for your mental health.

Loivissa had already had to send three of her men out of the gardens because they had snapped and decided that, yes, that plant might seem innocent enough, but it was really the enemy in the disguise, so of course they had to hack it down to the last bit.

She hoped that the others were not being equally rough to the gardens, or else she might have a hard time explaining it to her niece in the morning. Oh well, she could always say that some deer had somehow found a way inside and had begun rubbing the plants with their antlers.

Loivissa did not usually like lying to, well, anyone for that matter, but a little white lie to prevent her niece from worrying about something that was not her problem was…acceptable…she guessed.

A flicker at the corner of her eye caught her attention, and before she knew what she was doing, she had already swung her sword to remove the foliage between her and where that flicker had been. She was to her surprise rewarded with a small grunt and a momentary visual of a fully grown man holding a small cut on his arm, before he flickered out of existence again.

"I found him!", she yelled, as she once again slashed forward, but was met with nothing but empty air.

Soon enough, a large area had been sealed off be guards standing shoulder to shoulder and hacking away at anything in front of them to prevent the man from escaping. Loivissa was not part of the encirclement, as she was busy concocting a spell to shed his invisibility.

When she was done wording it, she began to cast it, and to her surprise, her opponent seemed to be struggling against her attempts at revealing him with quite a bit of effort. He was evidently not just any other mage, but a strong one at that.

In the end though, he had to yield to the might of a fully-fledged mostly elven dragon rider, and soon enough, he appeared trying to hide behind a tree in the middle of their encirclement. He looked as pale as one could be, probably a result from the magical duel that had taken place, but Loivissa decided that she could not underestimate him, so she quickly said, "slytha", which easily penetrated his now spent wards and put him to sleep.

The other one was caught three quarters of an hour later by another team, who had unfortunately had no choice but to kill him. That was more problematic, as Loivissa had preferred to be able to question them both, but she supposed that she would have to make do with the one.

And so it came to pass that the man woke up from his magically induced slumber with each hand chained to two different trees behind him and to either side, while he was lying on his stomach on the ground with only his torso lifted slightly from the ground because of the chains. He would not be able to stand up properly because of the chains, while snares on his feet prevented him from moving back to sink his torso.

A drug had already been administered while he was asleep to prevent him from accessing any magic, and the dozen or so guards in an even circle around him with their halberds pointed directly down at him should be able to remind him that should he try anything funny, he would not even manage to be able to twitch before they finished him off.

"So…tell me a bit about yourself", Loivissa said in a kind but authoritative voice. She wanted to send the message that she would be kind to him if he did as asked, but that she was still in charge here.

"I am a botanist who wanted to see the garden at night", the man sneered.

A single look from Loivissa was enough to tell the guard near the man's left foot to turn around his halberd and hit him in his foot palm, which was enough to elicit a hiss of pain from the prisoner.

Loivissa might not have much use for the memories that Mercury shared with her, but at times like these, they were pretty much her only clue on what to do. It was not even as if she was following them as anything more than a guideline, as the methods that she had seen Mercury use to break someone would have made this seem like little more than a nice tea party among friends. It was no wonder that he had snapped in the end.

"Now, why not tell me who you really are? If you provide adequate answers, then I might even be willing to ease your punishment. Who knows, perhaps you could even be allowed to walk free after this war is over", Loivissa tried to persuade.

"When the gods win, they will eat me alive for being captured", the prisoner merely sneered, "I do not see anything that could be gained from telling you anything, when my only reward will be to be locked up until I am eventually eaten".

"Hmm, how about something else then?", Loivissa mused, "have you ever tried nagra? They are giant wild pigs that live in the Beor mountains, taste really good and are only served at important events, but I could get some for you. Although I have to tell you that whether you decide to say something or not, your friend with the scar under his left eye and a crooked nose is already singing his lungs out, so I am actually just here to try and verify what he is saying".

"There is no way that he would have been caught alive", the prisoner boasted, which was actually true, but he did not need to know that, so Loivissa countered with, "funny, he said the same thing about you".

"Feel smug all you wish, but when my gods come to devour your little meeting here, they will show mercy and grant me my wish to watch you be eaten by them before they devour me too for my incompetence", the prisoner laughed evilly, "you are all doomed anyway, but if you really want to know what I know, then I might tell you if you let me have my way with you".

Loivissa had to forcefully push down the urge punch him, but tried to disguise it by saying in an alluring voice, "so you did manage to scry your superiors about our little meeting here?"

"Yes, the waters in that lovely garden provided such a good surface to scry on", the prisoner boasted.

Excellent, so he had not been able to contact anyone about the meeting, as the wards that had been set up preceding this meeting, which were following the walls around the entire estate, would have blocked off any attempt at magical communication with the outside world. They were not as strong as the ones around Du Weldenvarden, but they would have been quite enough to stop anything short of eldunarya empowered attempts to contact the outside world.

"So you have not had any luck contacting anyone about what goes on here", Loivissa said, which elicited a small gasp of surprise from the prisoner, before he schooled his features back to normal, "you do know that no matter what you say, I will be able to learn from it anyway, so you might as well give up now".

The prisoner visibly sneered at her, before he shouted, "eat thy flesh and thou shall become immortal!", and promptly burst into blue flames.

"What the-", Loivissa yelped as she stumbled back from the sudden heat, but before anyone could do anything to stop the flames, it was already too late to save him.

"How in all of Alagaësia did he manage to do that when he was prohibited from using magic?!" Loivissa angrily questioned the unfortunate guard who had administered the drug.

"I-I, I be-believe that he mi-might have h-had some sort of en-enchanted device to act upon a p-password, m-my l-lady", the shivering guardsman nervously said.

"And you did not check for this beforehand?! Because of your failure, our only lead as to how they penetrated our defences and learned about this meeting taking place is now dead!", Loivissa shouted before she reigned in her anger and more calmly said, "go tell the captain what has happened, he will know what to do with you, and that he is to double the guards on the walls, but remove the extras inside the castle. As long as there is no immediate threat, then I see no reason to cause undue alarm among the guests. Understood?"

"Y-yes, my lady", the nervous guard stuttered before he ran off.

To the east, the first rays of the morning sun were just beginning to show, signalling that morning had come already.

"Have the outer gardens be sealed off until this mess has been cleaned up", Loivissa ordered to the remaining guard, before she began walking towards the castle and her duties as hostess, while muttering under her breath, "I guess that sleep will just have to wait then. I better go change before anyone spots me in this outfit and questions me about it".

Today was going to be a long day.


	3. The war meeting

Wow, it is Mammoth Monday already? Time flies fast...

Anyway, etc, etc ect, here is the chapter. Enjoy!(I demand it)

* * *

**The war meeting**

**Loivissa POV  
**You could say that Loivissa was slightly intimidated by her present company. After all, who would not be, when the most powerful men and women of the free nations of Alagaësia were gathered in the same room, sitting at the same long oval holly table as her?

She sat at the end of the oval table, closest to the door, while the dwarven representatives sat to her left, and the humans' sat next to the dwarves'. On the right side of the table, the elves sat farthest away from Loivissa, while the urgals sat closest to her, and on the other end of the oval table was a pedestal with a werecat seemingly sleeping on a pillow. The three riders sat on either side of the werecat, Evandar and Celiste in the right side, with the commander on the left side.

"Now, before we start the meeting, I would like to thank our hostess, the lady Loivissa, for agreeing to host this meeting and provide security for it", a dignitary from the Empire spoke, which was soon followed by similar bouts of praise from the other nations.

_Right, time to act the part_, Loivissa shook herself out of her intimidation, as she gracefully rose from her seat at the end of the oval table and said, "thank you very much for your kind words, it has been an honour to be allowed to host this meeting. I am confident that we will come to an agreement in our time of trouble. Now, I believe the first order of business is the recounts of the nations' war efforts since the last meeting. Let the dwarves be the first to speak and then continue around the table in that order".

Another duty of being selected as hostess to the meeting was to be the acting chairman of the meeting. This also entailed that Loivissa had to maintain order and make sure that everyone would wait their turn to speak. It reminded her of her annual meetings in Gilead, although she had never had to play this part there.

"Since the last meeting, very little has changed in the tunnels", the dwarven King Toyk announced, as he stood up from his seat, "my fellow knurlan have died keeping the enemy at bay, while the cowardly elves have been content to sit idly in their forest and meditate on otherworldly matters".

"As I recall, we would not need to keep to our forest if someone was able to feed their own people", Queen Islanzadi retorted.

_And so it begins again_, Loivissa tiredly mused.

After the 43rd dwarven king Orik had died, relations between the elves and the dwarves had ceased to improve. Instead, they had only gotten slowly worse over time. Loivissa supposed that it was simply natural for this to happen to two civilizations as fundamentally different as the dwarves and the elves, but she kind of wished that they would just bury the axe, at least until this war with the ra'zac was over.

It was not often that Loivissa got to think this, but right now, she wished that the dwarves and elves were more like the humans. The humans had been smacked down right in the middle of the races, with the elves to the north, the dwarves to the south and the urgals in the Spine, and they had somehow managed to keep a somewhat open relationship with them all.

Granted, the urgal-human relationship had before the war mostly consisted of: you do not bug us and we will not bug you in return, and the elven-human one had always been one of slight mistrust towards the mythical beings that could lay waste to entire armies of men, while the dwarven-human one had actually been quite good, but all of them were still better than all of the other elven and dwarven ones combined.

Realizing that she had let her thoughts drift and ignored her duty as hostess, leading to the dwarven and elven ambassadors exploding in a full out shouting match, Loivissa rose from her seat and shouted, "Enough!", which quickly quieted the two parties, "I will not have this discussion here. We are all under the same banner, with a common enemy, so I expect each of you to act as such and at least be civil to one another, not to act as children bickering over a toy!"

It was with some satisfaction that Loivissa watched the monarchs and their entourages shamefully take their seats again, before she continued in a quieter but still formal tone, "now, unless the dwarves have any more to add?", which was answered by a headshaking from King Toyk, "I believe that it is the humans' turn".

No more outbursts like previously occurred, and apart from the humans suspecting that a small outbreak of measles was underway in Carvahall, which the elves promised to send healers to fix, nothing much had changed since the last meeting.

"Next order of business; summer-offensive, yes or no?", Loivissa read out from her checklist, before giving the word to the human representatives.

"We would like to initiate an offensive to liberate Dras-Leona from its siege, but we lack the necessary manpower and mages to have any hope of succeeding", the human High Queen Alarice said.

"The urgalgra would wish to join you in this venture with 500 strong rams, but we do not have enough shamans to spare from our own needs", the urgal representative said, "but after what happened at the battle of Pal Ne'Ach, we also need guarantees that a counter for the lethrblaka abominations is provided".

"The elves can accommodate your request with 30 of our spellweavers, but we also need confirmation that a counter is provided", Queen Islanzadi butted in.

"I wish that we could provide such a guarantee, but alas we cannot, as we lack the siege equipment to deal with these monsters, and the elves have refused our requests to let us harvest the trees needed from their forest", a human general said with badly hidden contempt towards the elves for their refusal.

"You wished to butcher trees that have stood here for longer than your entire race has been here!", Queen Islanzadi angrily countered, "we were gracious to allow you to cut down the ones that you got earlier in the war, but we cannot allow you to continue to devastate the forest as such".

"We lost those machines during our retreat from Surda, where you failed to recognize the severity of the threat and aid us", the general countered, before he was shushed by his High Queen, who more calmly said, "Queen Islanzadi, we mean you no disrespect, but if you will not let us gather the means to defend from the lethrblaka, then how are we to guarantee a counter for them? Unless of course, you have another way of countering them that does not require us to cut down your trees?"

Queen Islanzadi's gaze travelled from the High Queen's to the three rider representatives, among them Celiste and Evandar, before she said, "have the riders no contributions to make to this?"

"We could perhaps spare a squad of five riders to aid in this offensive", commander Lifaen said, "but it would still not be enough to completely guarantee the expedition's safety".

"Then we appear to have come to an impasse", Queen Islanzadi simply stated, "as no one has figured out another way to counter this threat without the massive abuse of ancient trees, and the forest in turn needs time to properly heal itself, I am afraid that we might have to cancel the offensive".

"How about some of the Shadow's inventions? Surely there must be something that could be used from those?", the youngest of the human entourage suddenly said.

It was no wonder that it was the youngest that had said it, as he was the greatest candidate to have been raised on the mythical tales of 'The Shadow', who bargained with death himself, and made the impossible seem possible. The tales had kind of escalated since Mercury's abrupt departure 75 years ago. How could they not, when the shade seemingly dies one day, and then the Shadow suddenly appears in Narda and sails away on a mythical looking ship?

Still, it had almost become taboo to talk about him during these meetings, as much of it was written off on exaggeration and coincidences. Not that that had stopped any of the ones currently here from trying to do the exact same thing that the young human was proposing, as soon as things started to look bleak.

Loivissa remembered it clearly; how an interest in the now ancient towers of localization suddenly spiked up, which led to rounding up the towers hidden openly in the cities, Ellesméra being among them, in order to study them and determine how they worked, so that their design could be copied and used in the war effort.

They had tried to confiscate her bracelet too, although she had been adamant that they were only allowed to study it under her direct supervision, while still inside Nolondil. Loivissa did not care how outraged the leaders had become at her terms, she would budge on none of them, as the bracelet had been a gift, and she would be damned if it was damaged or destroyed by their haste to unlock its secrets.

As it turned out, she had been right to fear its destruction, as several of the towers had already been destroyed when the people assigned to them had grown impatient with their lack of progress and had decided that more invasive methods were prudent.

Eventually, after a year and a half's worth of studying, the only thing that the examiners had been able to get out of the towers and the bracelet was that some sort of wave was needed to activate the spell hidden within them, although what exactly that was, no one could say, so it had been decided that in order to unlock the mystery, a salvaging expedition was to be sent to Vroengard to try and recover the master control board, as well as any other inventions that might have survived Mercury's parting.

The expedition had turned out to be a waste of time and resources, as whatever might have survived the initial blast that shook even the ground in Narda, had then been buried in the following lava flood that had filled up the entire room and the tunnel leading to it. No matter how good a ward around something might have been, it would not have been enough to hold off the massive heat of lava for long, as the expedition team had also discovered when they had tried to excavate the main chamber.

When Mercury chose to not leave something behind, he certainly accomplished the deed well enough, although Loivissa could remember that he had told her that he had buried a number of safe deposits throughout Alagaësia, but with only Mercury knowing the exact location of these, and countering in the ridiculous secrecy at the one she had seen, Loivissa had advised the leaders that it would be an even worse waste of time and resources to look for them.

As the room fell silent, the young human that had proposed the idea began to sink further and further down into his chair, until Loivissa was fairly sure that he could come no further without falling off of it. Loivissa kind of felt bad for him, as if this had not been his first meeting, or if he had been informed of these events previously, he would not have been in the position that he was in now.

Surprisingly, it was Queen Islanzadi who broke the uncomfortable silence, by saying, "you should know, young human, that betting all of our lives on something invented by a man, who has been greatly exaggerated by tales and myths, is not a very logical choice to make. In this time however, when logical solutions seems to lack success, I feel that your suggestion might actually be of some value to us".

That…was surprising to say the least. For the Queen of the elves, the race priding itself on its logic, to say that an illogical action was a prudent one. As if to match Loivissa's thoughts, the entire room had gone silent.

"You are suggesting that we reopen the Du Súndavar Reona-investigations?", the dwarven King Toyk asked to clarify that he understood her correctly.

"Essentially yes, although I am also stating that we should not bet all of our hopes on their successes", Queen Islanzadi answered, "you could say that I wish for us to explore all the possibilities before us, so as to not miss a solution to our problems, if one should present itself".

_Oh, so that is what this is about_, Loivissa mused after realizing what lay under her grandmother's suggestion.

_What is it about then?_, Adûn asked Loivissa through their bond.

_If the queen can find a solution to the lethrblaka problem that does not involve the massive amounts of trees that the regular solutions costs, then she will get her will_, Loivissa answered internally,_ in the meantime, even if they do not find a solution, then the time spent searching for it will be extra time for the elves to regrow the forest in preparation for the harvesting, and by bringing this subject to debate again, she has ensured that no one will think about how it arose in the first place. It is just like my grandmother to be thinking this many steps ahead of her opponents_.

As Loivissa finished her thoughts to Adûn, she felt a presence request entry to her mind. Upon recognizing it as her brother's, she let him in.

_Have you figured it out yet?_, Evandar asked, clearly alluding to their grandmother's machinations.

_Yes, what do the riders think of this?_, Loivissa asked back.

_Lifaen is slightly of the same mind as the queen, but he grew up among the elves, so he has already acknowledged that he is biased, although he finds no faults in her reasoning. Neither do I for that matter_, Evandar answered, _who among the others do you think has figured it out yet?_

_I do not know. The dwarves seem more concerned with whether they have to supply diggers, and the urgals are strangely quiet about this, but it looks like the human high queen might have begun to put the pieces together, although she does not look like she want to object to it_, _Loivissa said, perhaps she sees this as a way to better her relationship with the elves without losing standing among her own kind?_

Whatever Evandar might have answered was cut short when High King Consort Larkin abruptly intervened, "say that we do reopen the investigations, how are we supposed to get any further than last time? As I recall, the dead ends that we encountered last time were just that, dead, and no one in Alagaësia has had any contact with the inventor of it all since he just up and left".

"Well, obviously we cannot hope to get the localization system back online, not that it would solve our current problems anyway", Queen Islanzadi answered, "but we do still have one link to him, whom might make a request on our behalf".

Seemingly at once, all heads turned to look directly at Loivissa. Loivissa would be lying if she said that she was not intimidated by this, but she allowed none of that to show, as she adopted a blank questioning look on her face.

It was certainly not common knowledge that Loivissa kept in contact with Mercury. In fact, the only ones that should have known about it, besides herself of course, were Helen, Celiste and Evandar, but she could see how everyone else automatically made the assumption that the queen was speaking of her, seeing as how she would not be sitting here if not for Mercury basically leaving everything to her.

"What are you insinuating, queen of the elves?", Loivissa asked completely stoic.

"Please child, I have known for some time now that you two have kept in touch with one another", Queen Islanzadi simply said.

"Is this true?", High Queen Alarice asked curious.

Well, lying about it now would be pointless and accomplish nothing other than damaging her reputation, so Loivissa answered in a slightly lower voice than usual, "it is".

"And what has been his thoughts on the war, or has he completely abandoned us?", the high queen continued.

"I…have not exactly…told him about it yet", Loivissa hesitantly confessed, "he went away to free himself from the strifes of Alagaësia, so that he could find himself again, and I did not wish to impede his progress by laying another burden not of his choice, upon his shoulders".

"So while our scholars slaved away at uncovering the secrets of his machinations, you had the power to end their struggles within your grasp, and you did not tell us?", High King Consort Larkin accused.

"I did not!", Loivissa defended, "even had I asked him about these things, do you then honestly think that he would have provided the answers when he went to such trouble to seal it away? Not to mention that the answers would very likely have been too foreign for your scholars to comprehend without him actually there to explain it in person! I witnessed some of his memories once; he thinks differently than you, me or anyone else in Alagaësia, save perhaps Angela".

"What is your level of contact with him exactly?", High Queen Alarice asked more curiously than condemning, which seemed to quiet her husband down.

"We exchange letters every few months or so", Loivissa answered.

"Would it be possible for you to ask him whether he has any safe deposit places left that might be of some aid to us, or whether he knows and is willing to share some invention that might otherwise aid us? I know that you wish for his peace of mind to be permanent, but you must surely understand that thousands of lives might be saved if he could provide an answer to our problems", High Queen Alarice requested as diplomatically as possible.

"I guess that I could write to him and ask him after this meeting has been completed", Loivissa obliged, "although I cannot guarantee that he would answer us".

"It is all that we could wish for", High Queen Alarice said with understanding lacing her tone, before she went back to her usual formal tone and said, "now, what should we do about the summer offensive then? Seeing as how this development most likely will not affect it, I propose that we should perhaps create a diversion here at the hills just above what used to be Furnost, in order to draw as many lethrblaka away as possible, before we try and lift the siege from Dras-Leona".

The meeting continued like this for the rest of the day, until they broke up for supper.

**Later that evening in Loivissa's chambers**  
As Loivissa sat alone at the desk in her personal chambers later that evening, she could not help but ponder how to even start the writing the blank piece of parchment currently in front of her.

How did you start a letter that had the primary message of: remember when you asked about why my niece had moved in with me? Well guess what, I kind of omitted the part of her being forced to do so by a huge war that has engulfed Alagaësia for the last seven years, and now I would really like to know whether you would reveal your secrets to us, so that we might win this war.

_Yeah, it will probably not be the best way to start off_, Loivissa mused tiredly.

The lack of any proper form of sleep since last night's mole hunt did not exactly help matters either for Loivissa.

Picking up a quill, Loivissa dipped it slightly in some ink, before she started writing at the top of the parchment.

'Dear Mercury  
I am afraid that a development has arisen that has forced me to-'

_It has not suddenly arisen, it has always been there. I was just not telling him about it_, Loivissa angrily cursed, as she crumpled the paper into a small ball and threw it over her shoulder, before burying her head in her hands and thinking, _perhaps I should just wait until tomorrow to write it? One day would probably not make a difference anyway_.

She had almost given entirely up and was on her way to her bed, when the thought struck her that she was just procrasting the inevitable. Already imagining the scolding that her old ebrithilar would give her if they found out about this, she slumped back into the chair at desk and started anew.

_Perhaps I could pretend to be someone else, just to get it started at least, _Loivissa mused,as an idea formed in her head,_ now, how might Evan start off? He would probably intone a sense of duty and responsibility into it, which I do not exactly think will better the chances of Mercury responding positively. Hmm, mother would likely do the same, so…perhaps grandmother?_

As the idea settled for a bit, Loivissa realized that that would definitely not be the way to write this letter, so she continued her pondering, _father perhaps? No, not him either. I wonder how Mercury might start this off?_

As she thought about it, she realized that she really had no idea how he might start it off, as she had only really known him for a few short months, and that had been in a period in his life where he was suffering from a severe identity crisis. Not exactly the best time period to get to know the true self of someone.

Had he changed since then, and if so, then how? Would she even be able to recognize anything of the old Mercury in him anymore? True, his letters had not changed that much, but he never talked about what he was doing or where he currently was either.

Instead, he mostly discussed the sights that he saw, the wonders of the world, the occasional riddle that had been bugging him for months, or else, he tried to give the best advice that he could when she asked for it. Granted, it was not quite that often that that happened, and she could only ask him about longer-standing advice, as the correspondence did not allow him to answer her in time for the more immediate ones.

Following this train of thought, Loivissa suddenly found the inspiration to start. She did not start off with why she was writing this, even forgoing an actual initial greeting. Instead, she simply began to unbiasedly describe what had happened until now.

As the candle at the corner of her desk continued to flicker with the steadily disappearing wax underneath it, Loivissa continued to describe what had happened. She wrote about how the ra'zac had come, how the alliances had withered away, how the Empire had been beaten, how the dragon riders' ranks had fallen and how the dwarves had been attacked. She wrote it all, including what had led her to doing this, and when she was done writing, eight full parchments laid in front of her.

After scribbling down a quick, 'yours Loivissa', she began folding the parchments together into one neat bundle, which she sealed inside a small velvet container, before she got up from her chair and walked towards the shelf on the far wall, where a large wooden two-mast model ship was resting.

As she began to insert the documents into the ship's hull, she began to muse about how their correspondence had originally started.

It had been a few years since he left, _three perhaps?_, and she had been feeling extremely stressed out over something that she could no longer remember. When she had gotten to her room, she had very nearly cried herself to sleep, but had instead decided to pour all of her frustrations out unto a piece of parchment.

After finally venting the last of her concern, fury and whatever pent up emotion that was simmering within her, she had found that she had no one to actually send it to, as everyone that she knew would either try to take pity on her or would react badly to reading it. She did not feel like either of those options would be very helpful to her right now.

In the end, she realized that she did have one person that would not do that, or who she would at least not have to look into the eyes of to watch his reaction, so with a determination to just send the letter to someone, anyone really, she had bound it to the leg of a stuffed owl and enchanted the owl to take flight and seek out Mercury.

Sending the letter had given her the best night's sleep that she had had in weeks, although when she woke up, she immediately regretted sending it.

What was she thinking? Why had she sent a letter so full of pent up rage and frustration to someone not only so far away, but who had no chance in Alagaësia of alleviating her worries?

It was these thoughts that had plagued her for the next month or so, before she was woken up in the middle of the night by a loud explosion and a flash of silver flames. Her first reaction had been to wordlessly throw up a magical shield, but upon realizing that upon her now burning fern, there was a neatly folded letter with a ragged stuffed owl that looked like it could fall apart at the seams at any moment.

It took a moment for her to recognize it as the stuffed owl that she had sent, upon which she immediately ripped the letter open and read its contents. Mercury had not been judgemental of her weakness or inability to properly supervise the hold that he had left her, nor had he shown her any pity for her lot in life.

No, what he had written had been: 'Then quit if you feel like it. Nothing is holding you back, and I am sure that someone else will be happy to fill in for you.  
Also, might I suggest something else than this drowned mouse as your carrier next time. It really was quite difficult to read some of the parts because of the water damage'.

To this day, she was still unsure of whether he knew that saying that would give her the determination to carry on doing this, or whether he had simply been feeling snappy after reading her letter, but the result was still the same; she had stayed in Nolondil and had committed herself to her task.

It was not long after that when she sent her second letter, this one being inside a closed container and tied to a small grass boat. She never did get an answer to that one, so she had assumed that it had been lost at sea, and decided to improve upon her carrier.

That was how the model-ship had come into being, as she had had to find something that could withstand the journey to who knows where, which was also why she could not simply teleport the letter by magic like Mercury could, as he knew exactly where he wanted his to go, although she supposed that he thought that he was sending them to his old study, instead of her bedchambers.

And so the trend had started. She had been able to dish out all of the problems that she could find no relief for elsewhere, while he would advise her the best that he could, while simultaneously providing her with something to lift her spirit.

She had had to cordon off the area where the letters arrived, which had earned a few raised eyebrows by some of the few people that were allowed to see her bedchambers, although she had excused it by saying that it was an area specially designed for various magical purposes. Not a complete lie, but not the complete truth either.

Finishing her thought at around the same time that she finished securing the velvet box in the hull, Loivissa gently lifted the ship from the shelf and intoned the usual spell of searching for Mercury, and to draw energy from the wildlife around it, into the ship, before she watched it hover momentarily above her outstretched hand, upon which it soon began to fly away into the darkness.

_Soon, it will all be made clearer_, Loivissa mused with a heavy heart, as she continued to stare out the window.


	4. Night raid

Before Friday Thursday, it is.

On a slightly different note; you cannot get poisoned by ingesting too much tea, can you? Because for every chapter written, I have consumed 1 litre of tea, plus the coffee, tea and other hot drinks that I simply drink in the meantime. If I die from writing this, let my last words be: "wait! I am not done yet!"

Enjoy!

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**Night raid**

**Loivissa POV(three months later)  
**The full moon was shining overhead on this cloudless of nights. It would no doubt have been a beautiful night if not for the blood that was currently being shed. Unfortunately for Loivissa, she could not stop to gaze at the moon, or wonder about the infinity of the stars, as a ra'zac lunged at her with its serrated longsword that was already dripping red with the blood of her guardsmen.

They had come at the hour just between dusk and night, where the moon had not yet been given enough power to illuminate the night sky, while the rays of the sun had just crept away. There had been no warnings from the urgal tribes, and the lethrblaka had long ago learned how to make human mages silence the beat of their wings, so Loivissa's guards had been caught completely unaware.

The first lethrblaka strikes had been quick, silent and completely without arousing suspicion among the other guards. They had then used this to their advantage by unloading their children unto the wall.

The ra'zac, even better at fighting in the night than their parents, had made swift work of most of the remaining guards without ever raising any alarms. It had only been the act of a brave, yet now dead, guardsman, who, with his last breath, had rung the warning bell at the tower that he was guarding, after the ra'zac had thought him dead and begun to move on, which had ensured that Nolondil had not been completely overrun.

After that event, the remainder of the garrison had woken up and quickly grabbed their swords, halberds and other weapons, before rushing out to defend the castle, some clad only in their sleeping wear. The remaining guards that were on duty had also been warned by this action and had managed to halt the ruthless and stealthy assault of the ra'zac to them only controlling two thirds of the battlements, while mages had cast werelights to provide light for the crews on the ballistae to see and hit the lethrblaka.

Currently, Loivissa was engaged in a brutal battle to retake the south-eastern part of the wall from ra'zac control with only herself and a small handful of guards to counter the ra'zac. The lethrblaka were being kept in check by the ballistae under Loivissa's control and the claws of Adûn, who had felled three already. This also kept them from retrieving their offspring and fleeing their botched attempt at sacking Nolondil.

The captain of the night shift was directing the battle on the other side of the ring wall with two whole contingents of troops, while the lion's share of their men, which were directed by the captain of the day shift, were busy guarding the plains and castle, operating the ballistae or dousing the fires that the ra'zac had set when they had been discovered.

In truth, with the men currently with her now, they probably only outnumbered the ra'zac on this side of the wall by perhaps one or two people. It was not exactly good odds when all but Loivissa were inferior in terms of speed, strength and swordsmanship to the ra'zac, but the guards that were with her now were among the best of the best of her whole garrison, so it kind of evened out the odds.

As the ra'zac lunged at Loivissa, she managed to sidestep its strike, before its sword was caught by two men wielding halberds, who quickly forced the sword down unto the stone floor of the wall, which enabled Loivissa to move in and deliver a fatal blow with her sea-blue rider-sword.

It had been going on like this for a little while now. Since the wall was only wide enough to support four people standing side to side on it, Loivissa and her men would utilize this ability to its fullest by having her advance a pace ahead of the four men wielding halberds directly behind her. In the start, the ra'zac had tried to break their line, but had quickly found that even when having one of them occupying Loivissa, which was not made easier by the fact that the halberd-wielding men were constantly poking at it if it got just a little too close, while another two would try to break through their line, they still failed.

Unfortunately for them, their agility, strength and speed were wasted when they could not move around their opponents, and when they finally did get in close with the halberdiers, where their swords had the advantage over the halberds, it was only to discover another four sword-wielding men directly behind the halberdiers, who quickly moved in to melee with the ra'zac, while the halberdiers retreated a few steps back before reengaging with their longer weapons.

Now however, the ra'zac had wizened up and had stopped attacking and begun defending easily defensible spots instead, which there were quite a lot of. They had also taken to shooting arrows at Loivissa's men, which had forced Loivissa to erect a ward to shield them.

As the immediate danger from the now dead ra'zac alleviated, Loivissa breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her brow, which had formed partly because of her exertion and partly because of the fire that still raged inside the guard tower that they had just retaken.

"A message from Captain Tyke, my lady", a messenger boy said as he made his way up through the line of resting soldiers, "he says that the battle on the northern part of the wall is going well and asks for your progress".

The reason for using messengers instead of mages to deliver messages was not that they feared that enemy mages might attack them, as the lethrblaka were prideful enough to never let anyone other than their offspring ride them or otherwise be carried by them, but rather that the mages were too busy and exerted too much energy to spend any more on simply delivering messages.

"Tell him that the southernmost guard tower has just been retaken without any casualties on my part, but that a squadron of archers placed on the ground beneath the wall would be appreciated to keep the enemy archers down", Loivissa answered tiredly.

"He said that you might say that and in that event instructed me to inform you that unless your men have taken considerable losses, the men needed to guard the archers, along with the archers themselves, would be too valuable elsewhere and too exposed in such a situation", the messenger said.

"Hrmpf, there is never an easy way is there?", Loivissa snorted, before dismissing the messenger and rousing her men by saying, "Break time is over men. I do not know about you, but I would like to go back to sleep, so what do you say that we oust these abominations from our home?"

A chorus of approval was soon heard, before they reformed their earlier formation and continued the process of taking back the wall one tower at a time.

They lost a few on the way, some to the ra'zac blades, some to a lethrblaka strike from above that nearly decimated their entire line, and one because he lost his balance while duelling a ra'zac and fell down unto the hard unforgiving ground. The ra'zac on their side had lost quite a bit more, having being reduced to only four left.

It was not long before Loivissa's and Captain Tyke's forces were about to meet up, having almost come full circle around the ringwall that surrounded the plains of Nolondil. In between them, there was only a small handful of ra'zac left, and while they were no longer in range of the surviving ballistae closer to the castle, with the ones closer to their current position having been burnt by the ra'zac on their retreat, Adûn was still able to keep the remaining three lethrblaka sufficiently occupied to prevent them from harassing their men on the wall.

Brandishing her sword with a flourish, Loivissa seized the initiative and propelled herself forward towards the ra'zac position, leaving her men behind in the process. The single ra'zac straggler that had not yet reached its fellow kin on the last guard tower, spun around to block her attack.

Its sword, a serrated one like the one all ra'zac wore, flew against her own sword in a shower of sparks and steel. Loivissa would parry and counterattack, which was then diverted by the ra'zac, who quickly forced her on the defensive again.

It had been foolish to rush blindly into battle with the creature, Loivissa realized as their duel continued evenly. She had sensed victory and had jumped at it without thinking first, something that could very well cost her her life if she continued to do so.

A shallow cut to the ra'zac's left shoulder left it sufficiently surprised for Loivissa to slip past its defences and slice it up from hip to neck.

"INCOMING!", someone shouted.

Loivissa only just had time to register the shout, before she felt the very wall underneath her give way. Reacting as quickly as she could, Loivissa jumped from the fallen debris that she was standing on and towards where her men had been standing moments earlier.

Despite her elven agility, she could not quite reach the still standing part of the wall, but was saved from falling down among the debris by a halberdier reacting quickly and thrusting out his halberd towards her, so that she could grab it.

The force of her jump, combined with her handle on the halberd, sent her barrelling into the broken side of the wall, which nearly made her lose her grip on the halberd, before she was pulled up unto the battlements by the same halberdier that had reacted so quickly, along with two others next to him.

Finally finding time to breath, Loivissa thanked the men for reacting so quickly, before turning around to witness what had made the entire wall give way.

What she saw stunned her, for lying amidst the rubble was a lethrblaka, but her gaze was quickly torn from the giant dead beast and towards the remaining ra'zac, which used the now crumbled wall to jump from ledge to ledge until they reached the bottom, at which point they began a mad dash into the forest outside the walls.

The two remaining lethrblaka similarly retreated towards the forest, but although Adûn might have been able to take them on at full strength, Loivissa knew from their bond that he was simply too tired from the long fight to risk his life when the enemy was already beaten.

Loivissa similarly knew that she would have been able to easily use the rubble to make a safe descent and hunt down the surviving ra'zac, but she also knew that none of the humans with her could do that, and it was paramount to a death wish for her to venture out into the forest alone with so many ra'zac still lurking out there. Even had they been able to quickly transport the humans down to the ground to aid in her hunt, it would have done nothing more than provided the ra'zac a chance to kill more of her guards in an environment that heavily favoured their stealthier tactics.

"We have won!", a guard shouted soon after seeing the ra'zac flee into the forest.

Loivissa had no idea who the guard was, or even on which side of the newly made chasm that he was on, as similar bouts of celebrations immediately followed from the men on both sides.

_Aye, we have won, but at what cost?_, Loivissa mused grimly, as she considered all the guardsmen, whose flames would forever be extinguished.

She had lost at least 12 of her original 30 men, at least 120 of the men that had been on duty tonight had similarly been lost and she had no idea how many Captain Tyke had lost, but she guessed that the number was probably larger than her own.

Captain Tyke managed to catch her gaze from across the chasm, at which point he gave a small nod in that he knew what she was feeling, before signalling with his eyes towards firstly the soldiers next to him, and then towards the chasm and the castle.

Loivissa gave a small unperceivable nod in return, before turning around to face her surviving guards and in a more inspiring voice than she really felt like, she said, "men! The ra'zac came, they took us by surprise and they killed many of your comrades through trickery and backstabbing, but through your bravery and skill, we have ousted them and shown them that we are not weak pushovers for them to eat for supper! Nay, we are the free people of Alagaësia, and as long as a single one of us stands, we will continue to fight them, and we will win!", roars came from both sides of the chasm as she gave a small pause, before continuing, "in honour of your feats and in memory of those no longer among us, I hereby declare that tomorrow, we will have a feast to rival that of even the king and queen's", which was answered by even more cheering, "right now however, I fear that I must request some of you to remain out of bed for a little longer to guard the wall and the breach in it, along with dousing the fires that our enemies have set".

No cheering was heard at this, but the fact that the guardsmen by themselves began to organize who did what spoke of their dedication to protecting their new home, as many had come to regard Nolondil as.

They did not need her for this; in fact, she would probably be more in their way when it came to such matters, so Loivissa easily slipped away without much notice and headed towards the residence of Captain Tyke inside the castle, where they were to meet to discuss the events of the night and how to repair the damage done, as well as what could be done in the feature to prevent a similar tragedy to occur.

"So, how many casualties have there been tonight?", Loivissa asked Captain Tyke a little later, when they were both inside his office, along with the Captain of the day shift.

"Everyone has not been accounted for yet, but the current tally puts the death toll at around 200", Captain Tyke replied sombrely, "it would have been much worse if the alarm had not been raised".

"How did they even manage to get here without being spotted by any of the urgal tribes on their way?", Captain Lauran of the day shift asked.

"I do not know yet, but until this mystery has been solved, I believe it to be prudent for us to increase the number of guards during the twilight hours and to remind the men to remain vigilant", Captain Tyke said.

"What is to be done with the breach in the wall?", Captain Lauran asked, "I have organized men to guard it for now, but it represents a significant risk to our security".

"Come morning, I will petition to have masons sent here from Daret to clear the rubble and repair the damages", Loivissa answered, "but this begs me to ask; who forced the lethrblaka to crash into the wall?"

"No one did, as far as we are aware", Captain Tyke answered, "no ballistae were in range at the time and since you are the one to ask, I assume that it was not your dragon either".

"But if no one forced it to, then why did it do it?", Captain Lauran asked, "was it simply to try and take our lady down with it?"

"Because of the events that immediately followed, I can only assume that it sacrificed itself to give the remaining ra'zac a chance to flee", Captain Tyke answered, "I am afraid that its failed attempt to take lady Loivissa down with it was simply an afterthought now that it was going to die anyway".

"It seems reasonable to assume so", Captain Lauran said, "now, I would like to discuss our men's performance against the ra'zac in regards to what seemed to be effective and what did not, while our memories of the events are still fresh".

"Of course, that seems like a good idea", Captain Tyke agreed with a nod.

The three then spent the next few hours or so discussing in detail the events and battles of the night and how they could further improve their men against any new encounters with the ra'zac. In the end, they broke up for the night when they realized that they had begun to talk in circles.

On her way back to her own chambers, Loivissa reminisced about how many more had to die in this senseless war. She knew that the amount of men that she had lost tonight was not even a fraction of a fraction of the total amount of people that had been killed during the course of this war, but that did nothing to ease her guilt at having so many die under her care.

_Why has Mercury not answered yet?_, Loivissa thought a little angrily, although she knew that it was at least partially unfounded, _it has never before been more than a month from I sent my letter to his answer, so why has there now gone three without a single word from him?_

_Could I have offended him in my letter?_, Loivissa mused as she began to think that perhaps she was the cause of his absent answer, _is the reason that he does not answer that he has lost all attachment to Alagaësia? Or perhaps he has been offended by my withholding of parts of what has happened?_

_Maybe the message just disappeared on its way, and the reason for his lack of answer is simply because he never received it in the first place. Yes, that has got to be it, so all I have to do is to send a new one, and then he will finally answer_.

Confident in her new resolution, Loivissa quickened her pace towards her office to write another letter. She had just begun writing a new letter, when she realized that she did not know what to write. Despite having already written what was supposed to be an exact copy of this one three months ago, Loivissa knew that that one had been more or less inspired by the moment, and she simply did not have that inspiration right now.

Sighing in defeat, she put her quill back into its holder, leaned back in her chair, with her head resting back against it, while her right hand supported her forehead with her fingers, with her elbow placed on the desk in front of her in support, before she closed her eyes to try and find the inspiration needed.

It was not long before the weariness of the late hour, combined with the fatigue of battle, set in, and while she did try to stave off sleep repeatedly, she did eventually succumb to it.

The dream seemed both so very real and so unreal that Loivissa had difficulty deciding on whether she was still awake or not.

She was viewing a landscape from above, like a hovering hawk watching the scene unfold. The landscape itself was one that she recognized as the plains of the main road between Ilirea and Teirm, just before you entered the Spine from the east.

Two armies were stationed on either side of the plains; one blocking the mouth of the Spine, while the other was opposite of it. The size of the army blocking the road to Teirm was dwarfed by other one, and when a thunder of majestic dragons rose from the larger army, clearly intent on burning the smaller army to the ground, the loud and terrifying screech of the lethrblaka was heard from behind the smaller army.

Events then seemed to speed up until Loivissa could hardly follow them anymore, as the dragons and lethrblaka clashed in mid-air. Only now beginning to realize that she had left events on the ground unattended, Loivissa witnessed as the larger army had begun its attack by storming forward in a wedge-shaped formation that would no doubt cut straight through the smaller one.

Just as the larger army seemed to be about to clash with the smaller one, all hell broke loose in a cataclysmic cacophony of flame, dirt, blood and noise, and before long, Loivissa could see no more.

Loivissa awoke from her dream with a start, finding her heart to be racing from it. The sun had just begun to shine its rays through her window, while the parchment at her desk lay untouched, as she had left it when she had fallen asleep.

_It was just a dream. Just a dream_, Loivissa chanted as the events of the dream seemed to wash over her with renewed clarity, before subsiding into obscurity as quickly as they had come.

Still a little startled after her dream, and not wanting to be caught in the very same armour that she had worn during the battle, Loivissa groggily lifted herself up from the chair and made her way towards her personal chambers, just next door.

When she opened the door, the first scent that greeted her was the unmistakeable scent of the sea, which was very strange since the sea was not only a long way from here, but also because the inland wind was blocked by the mountains of the Spine, denying the possibility that it could have come from there.

As her eyes drifted across the room to locate the source of the smell, her eyes eventually landed on the small dripping wooden model-ship that she had sent out to find Mercury three months ago.

Instantly revitalized, she stormed towards the cordoned off corner, shoving a chair that was in her way across the floor in her haste to get there, where she found a small neatly folded envelope addressed to Loivissa on top of the ship's deck.

This was it. This was the answer that she had been waiting for with bated for three months, Loivissa thought as she gingerly lifted the envelope from its resting place, like it was a precious but fragile thing that could break at any moment.

_Now, I will finally be able to read his answer to all of this_, Loivissa thought as she began to break open the red wax, which strangely enough did not have the usual seal of the dwarven throne and the thirteen stars circling it.


	5. Questioning answers

Mammoth Monday!

As some have noted, I have not involved the dragons all that much recently. This is not because I do not plan to involve them at all, as they have a very important role to play in this story, but rather because I have not needed their involvement to drive forward the plot so far. As a writer, I do not usually even think of involving some character or another unless they are to serve a specific purpose in the chapter/or story as a whole. I hope this explains why the dragons seem like background creatures at the moment and that you will understand that when it is their time to shine, they will shine(and they will eventually, have patience).

* * *

**Questioning answers**

**Loivissa POV  
**Loivissa was…not happy…about recent events. In fact, you could say that she was fuming right now, and was unfortunately taking it out upon the poor bloke, who had unknowingly volunteered to be her sparring partner.

To think that he would have the audacity to write that and then to specifically tell her that she could not write back anymore was beyond what her teachings in meditation and self-control could still.

No! She would wring the true meaning of his words out from him as soon as she was given permission to do so by the emergency council of the Alagaësian leaders later this evening, which she had called immediately after reading his short-worded letter over a few times.

In the meantime, taking out her rage at something, anything really, seemed to be as good a way to pass time as any. It was childish, that she knew, as she had far more pressing concerns to be thinking about than scaring the hell out of a fresh recruit with a mouth that had been a little too loud.

She was not even fighting him for real either, as she deliberately stopped any and all attacks that would qualify as her winning the match. That did not however mean that she was not hitting her opponent, as she was quite sure that he would be riddled with bruises after this.

Uppercut, parry, knocking his halberd out of one of his hands, tap to the left shoulder, strike to the shin, dodging the futile counterattack, side-stepping him and knocking him off his feet. The match went on and on like this until her sea-blue sword was finally stopped from delivering a blow to her opponent's exposed back by the silver-edged shortsword with a golden lion-maw as its crossguard that was the family heirloom of none other than the Mataou family, also known as the night's guardsmen of Nolondil.

"I think the recruit has learned his lesson by now", the stern voice of Captain Tyke said.

"Fine, but do not ever let me hear you voicing such sentiments inside Nolondil again", Loivissa huffed as the unfortunate recruit quickly assured her of this, and practically grovelled at the captain's feet, before running off like she would instigate another duel if he stayed just a little longer.

"It is not like you to lose your temper as such, my lady?", Tyke said inquiringly after the recruit was no longer in hearing range.

"You could say that I have not had the best of mornings", Loivissa mused darkly, while finally sheathing her own blade.

"Is it the losses suffered during the night-raid that plagues you?", Tyke asked, as he fell into step with Loivissa, before they both began to aimlessly traverse the halls of Nolondil.

"No- well, yes, them too, but it is something different, someone different actually", Loivissa half-answered.

"If someone is bothering you, then you need only tell me their name, be they king or peasant, and I shall vow to not stop until the perpetrator is brought before you and his wrongs righted", Tyke promised.

"I would love to see you try, it would be a sight for sore eyes indeed", Loivissa laughed, her mood restored by the captain's joke.

Her laughter made the captain stop abruptly and look into her confused eyes with the determination of a roaring fire as he seriously said, "it is not something to jest about, and I promise you that I shall do this, if but to see my lady happy again".

This was unexpected. The seriousness etched into Tyke's face, the promise that he would go against ANYONE for nothing more than her happiness and the fire in his eyes that bespoke of utter devotion to his duty…and something else perhaps?

No, that could not be it. Granted, she had watched him grow up as a child, as had she with his father, and back then, she had known of the childish adoration that he had shown her, but he should have outgrown that a long time ago, realized that nothing could ever be between them, for she was unaging and he would be gone in what would be felt like a heartbeat for her.

Had it been there the whole time without her realizing it? Had she been too blind to see it until now, too distracted by other things? It certainly would explain why he never joined the other guardsmen when they went to the tavern in nearby Norigo to try and pick up the local women there. How she had not noticed this was beyond her, but he had always seemed to have some sort of excuse ready whenever anyone had asked him.

If this was not handled carefully, Loivissa knew that it could cause a rift to form between them, but as much as she valued him as a friend and captain of the night shift, she knew that in order for him to truly live his life to the best of his abilities, she would need to be completely adamant and clear in that they would never be.

Softly cupping his cheeks with her hands, while maintaining his gaze inside her own, Loivissa gently said, "Tyke, listen to me. You have to realize the folly of this. You are a human and I am not-"

"Your father was human too, yet your mother was not", Tyke interrupted.

"Their situation was different; they were both riders and blessed with the same unaging that I share. I have watched you grow from when you were just a little puddle of fat and skin and all throughout your childhood into your later years. I watched your father begin teaching you swordplay when you were just six summers old, and when you mother passed to illness a few years later, I tried to help you as best as I could, but I see now that my good intentions brought with them something that I had not intended. You must give up this infatuation of yours, and perhaps one day, I am sure that you will meet a wonderful woman who will be the mother of your children, you will love her and she you, but it will not be me, accept this".

Tyke tried to look away, but her gentle yet firm hands held his head in place until she was sure that her message had been properly received, so he opted to close his eyes instead, and with a voice tinged with hurt and a very slight bit of concealed venom, he asked, "it is because of that someone that has provoked this mood from you, is it not? You love him instead of me?"

_Well, I suppose that it would be easier for him to accept this if he thinks my heart is already taken_, Loivissa mused, before effortlessly lying to her most trusted subordinate, "yes, it is".

"Then why have I never seen him before?! Why has he not once visited you during all this time?! What could possibly be important enough to keep him away?!", Tyke angrily yelled at her, though he seemed to regret his outburst immediately after.

Great, questions that she was not at all sure that she knew the answers to herself, but she knew that she had to answer him with something, as to not hurt him even further, so she slowly released her hold on his head and leaned her back against the wall of the empty hallway that they were currently in, before she exhaled and quietly answered, "because he had to leave. It was before your time and before your father's as well".

"Elf or dragon rider?", Tyke demanded as he leaned on the wall next to her.

"Neither", Loivissa answered, sliding down the wall as she spoke until she sat on the floor with the back of her head resting against the wall.

"So he left by dying", Tyke assumed, as he slid down next to her, "and you have not let go of him since. I suppose that this is what you meant when you stressed your immortality versus my own mortality. You wanted to avoid repeating past mistakes".

"No, not exactly, but you are right in why I argue that this is why we could never be", Loivissa corrected him, and upon his questioning look, she clarified, "he is still very much alive, in fact, we still send each other letters from time to time, but he has not stepped foot on Alagaësian soil for nigh on 75 years".

Tyke looked completive for a while as he did the math, before realization kicked in with an all too clear change in his facial features, "it was him, The Shadow, the contractor of Angvard?"

"Yes, though I would not listen to all the stories told of him, especially the Angvard ones", Loivissa replied with a slight smile at the memory of some of the stories told about Mercury and his own opinions of them.

"What was he like?", Tyke asked concerned.

Loivissa stopped herself before answering in order to scrutinize his motives behind asking, but upon finding them to be purely those of curiosity and concern for her, she answered, "honestly, I do not know. When I first met him, his mind was already so broken that it was a wonder how he managed to get by, though in hindsight, I suppose that what broke him is also what helped him stay aloft, like the legend of the possessed dog that would eat its owner's sight every night, but then continue to guide him during the day".

It was not long until Loivissa started recounting everything she knew about Mercury, from the day that she first saw him and all through the years of exchanging letters, eventually leading up to her telling Tyke the contents about his most recent letter and her reaction towards it.

"I finally understand and accept it now", Captain Tyke said, as he rose from his seated position, "and I know now that I should relinquish this yearning of mine, but have no fear that it will in any way impede upon my performance in my duties, and I can promise you this; even if the council should be foolish enough to deny your request, I shall always be at your service to aid you in any way that I can".

"Thank you", Loivissa mumbled, before she watched Tyke walk away from her still seated position.

She had not known what had come over her when she had decided to suddenly tell the captain about Mercury, but she somehow wanted him to understand just why it was so important to her that her request was granted, and why she was so furious at Mercury for his answer.

The thought of this brought her back from her daydreaming and towards the present, where she realized that unless she got a move on, she would be late for the very meeting that she had been worried about all morning.

_Oh well, food will have to be a luxury for later then_, Loivissa thought as she raced through the halls to arrive in her office, where six man-sized mirrors had been placed in a semicircle in front of her desk, which would soon show the images of all the necessary people that had to agree upon their further action.

The dwarf king Toyk was the first to arrive in the mirror most to the left in the semicircle, quickly followed by the elf queen, and her grandmother, in the one furthest to the right. The urgals' selected spokesman came in right of the dwarf king a few seconds later, quickly followed by the commander of the dragon riders in Alagaësia in the left centre mirror. Then came the human monarchs in the one next to Islanzadi, before the lead rider and his mate, Loivissa's parents, came into existence in the right centre mirror.

After quickly going through introductions, Loivissa came to the matter at hand and withdrew the now unsealed envelope from her desk and held it for all to see, before saying, "as mentioned, I received this sometime during last night's raid".

"Well, what does it say?", asked the ever impatient dwarf king from his mirror, which was soon followed up by other bouts of agreement.

Loivissa slowly opened the envelope and took out the letter, careful to not reveal what else had been in the envelope for her eyes only, although she had found it a little odd, before she slowly and punctually started to read the letter,  
"I will be arriving in Feinster a year from now to settle the matter.  
Do not attempt any further communication  
Yours Mercury Iridium".

After a long pause, in which all of the gathered seemed to be waiting for her to add anything more to the letter, the human High King consort Larkin irritated said , "that is it? No clues as to how he plans to 'settle the matter'? Does he even know that Feinster is the very seat of their power here in Alagaësia?"

"Yes, I specifically mentioned this when I detailed what had happened until now", Loivissa answered.

"And he what? Plans to just sail into their most protected city and just demand their surrender?", High King consort Larkin asked sceptically.

It had not been the image that Loivissa had first envisioned of him returning to Feinster to 'settle the matter' upon her first reading of the letter. That one entailed an entire city burning to ashes, as the blood of thousands formed rivers of blood, and judging by her parents' ever so slightly nervous glances towards each other, she was sure that something similar came to mind for them too.

She desperately hoped that this would not be the case, which was part of the reason why she needed to get her petition through.

"I am as much in the dark about his plans a you are, I am afraid, which is also why I would like to petition that I lead a force to Feinster to greet him once he arrives, and if necessary, protect him as we retreat back towards imperially controlled lands", Loivissa said in as convincing a voice as she could muster.

No one said anything for a minute, the silence almost becoming deafening to Loivissa, before Islanzadi finally broke it by asking, "child, are you proposing that we try to put all of our forces into an all or nothing bid to reach Feinster before a year has passed on the whim that a single individual might show up and fix all of our problems if we do?"

"No, of course not", Loivissa denied, it would have been beyond ludicrous to even attempt such a thing with the way the war was going right now, "I am suggesting that I lead a small force down through the Spine, where we will remain mostly unseen, to simply collect him once he arrives and bring him back north. The force could even consist solely of men from my own guard, so none of you would even have to contribute manpower to it".

"Most of the men in your guard is only there because we have lent you them to protect the northern lands from the lethrblaka raids", High Queen Alarice pointed out.

"I would not take that many, most would still be here and ready to do just that", Loivissa argued, "I was thinking about 500 should be more than enough, which would still leave a sizeable garrison behind".

"No, 500 are too many", High Queen Alarice rejected, "if we were to hypothetically allow this, you could not take more than 200 with you. This is also based on what can actually be hidden in the Spine and provided food for".

"Yes, for even such a small number, you would still not be able to depend upon catching enough game to last, so you would in effect be dependent upon your initial supplies and the food that the urgalgra tribes would gift you with on your way", the urgal chieftain butted in.

_They are all already against this_, Loivissa realized with dread, before angrily retorting, "what then was the point of having me ask him for help, if we are not even willing to come get him when he arrives?"

"We would have been more than happy to greet him warmly if he had chosen a safer port to arrive in, but since he has not, I am afraid that we, as rulers, must weigh the lives of the many against the lives of one", High Queen Alarice said.

"I propose that we put it to a vote", Eragon butted in for the first time in the entire conversation, much to the surprise of the other participants.

"Yes, let us do that", Islanzadi concurred, "I vote that we allow the young rider to carry out this scheme of hers, but let it be a reminder, child, that all who dies shall be because of you".

_Still counts as a vote in my favour_, Loivissa mused semi-happily, before she moved on to the next in line, the human monarchs. She could see their lips moving, but no sound came from the mirror, so she guessed that they were having a private conversation to straighten out their beliefs, before sound was suddenly restored again.

"We do not feel that the possible benefit is worth the risk, so we vote against this", High Queen Alarice dictated.

"I do not like the idea of doing this either", dragon rider commander Lifaen said, "so I must also vote against this".

_Oh no, if even one more vote goes against this, it will be a tie, and a tie is equivalent to a denial_, Loivissa worried, as she hopefully looked towards her parents next.

"Are you sure that you cannot convince him to dock in a safer port?", her mother asked, which Loivissa quickly answered by saying, "quite sure, and I am absolutely sure that he will not write back until I meet him in a year's time".

"Then we will vote to allow you this", her father said, which caused a small sigh of relief to flood through Loivissa.

"The urgalgra will not be hampered by this, and we are more than happy to provide provision along the way to our long-time allies, so we also vote to let you do as you wish", the urgal chieftain spoke, "it will indeed be a grand tale to be told to future cubs of how the mighty Ra'zac Empire could not apprehend a single individual that sailed right into their strongest port".

_Three for, two against. It all hinges on the dwarves now_, Loivissa mused as she looked towards the dwarven king Toyk.

He looked contemplating for a lack of a better word, but underneath his furrowed brows and long beard, Loivissa thought that she could detect the signs of him not being willing to approve of her proposal.

This was not good. If Loivissa did not find a way to change the dwarf's mind in the next few seconds, which was something practically unheard of with dwarves, her proposal would be shot down, but how to change his mind then?

_Think, think, think, what do I have? Could Mercury somehow have managed to do this, and if so, then how?_, Loivissa mused in a frenzy, _he knows dwarves, he was even given this ring as a sign of friendship from King Orik, but how would he-…wait, the ring!_

Quickly opening the envelope again, Loivissa dug through it, while explaining her actions by saying, "you want to know why I am sure that he will not write back until I meet him again? It is because he sent this with his last letter", and as she said that, she withdrew the small signet ring that belonged to Mercury, a gift from King Orik from a long time ago, and which he had used to seal every envelope that he had sent so far, as a way of confirming that it really was him writing the letters.

"Why do you have that, child?", Islanzadi asked curious, "and why did you not tell us about it sooner?"

"He left it in the envelope with the letter, but as I saw no other meaning to it than him possibly wanting me to return it to him once he arrived, I never considered it", Loivissa answered.

"That is a great gift that you hold", dwarf king Toyk said completely serious, before he descended into his brooding again. Finally, after what seemed to be a lifetime, King Toyk hit his chest with his fist and loudly said, "I vote that we allow you to return it to its rightful owner".

_YES! They approved!_, Loivissa screamed in her head, while keeping as calm a composure as possible on the outside, as she humbly said, "thank you, I am confident that your trust in me will not be misguided".

"See that it is not", Islanzadi said in a commanding voice, before each of them eventually split up, now that the matter had been settled.

_I wonder if he knew that the dwarves would be the deciding factor, and that that is why he sent me the ring?_, Loivissa mused as she began to leave her office, _it is possible that he would know how the others would react from my descriptions of them, but then again, he could simply have sent it for me to meet him_.

As she opened the door, Captain Tyke was guarding the side of it, but upon her exiting the room, he asked, "how did it go?"

"They curbed the men to 200, but otherwise allowed me to go", Loivissa happily said, "I would like for you to start finding recruits and train them on how to survive in the Spine, so that they are ready when we leave 11 months from now, but make sure that each of them knows to keep his mouth shut about this. We cannot afford to let the enemy know of our plans, as they hinge entirely upon our ability to remain unnoticed".

"At once, my lady, I shall look forward to commanding them through the Spine", Captain Tyke answered with a small bow.

"That is another thing that I need to talk to you about", Loivissa stopped walking and turned around to look at him, "you will not be going with me on this venture. Instead, I will be taking Captain Lauran as my commander".

The change to Tyke's composure was equivalent of him having been suckerpunched and then slapped right after, before he composed himself and slightly irritated asked, "is this because of what happened earlier, because I promise you that I will not let my personal feelings get in the way of my duties?"

"No, it is nothing like that", Loivissa denied, as she had not even begun to consider how he might view this, "I am doing this because I need someone that I trust completely to look after Nolondil until my return".

"I understand, forgive my impudence", Tyke apologized.

"There is nothing to forgive", Loivissa assured him, before beginning to walk again, which she was soon followed in doing by the captain, before she said, "now, since there is a long time until this matter becomes relevant, should we take a look to the matters that actually have an immediate importance, and which I am ashamed to say that I have neglected all throughout the day?".

"Yes, of course, my lady", Tyke answered as they began to catch up on today's work.

* * *

So...anyone guessed what it said?


	6. Between rocks and bushes

What a beautiful Before Friday Thursday. Such a shame that it has to end this way, but they say that time heals all wounds and you have exactly 4 days to do so. Enjoy.

* * *

**Between rocks and bushes**

**Captain Tyke's POV(nearly a year later)  
**Tyke Mataou was an ordinary human with no special lordships or anything to distinguish him from the rest of the other one million humans living in Alagaësia. It was for this fact that he took great pride in always serving as best as he could to his lady, The Lady Loivissa of Eregion, as his family had done for the past two generations before him.

This was also why, when his lady had informed him that she would not be taking him with her as her commanding officer on her expedition to retrieve some nut job or another that had decided to throw caution and others' feelings to the wind when he had so brazenly decided all by himself that he would arrive in the very seat of the enemy's power, while simultaneously disabling any possible efforts to coordinate with him beforehand, Tyke had been quite upset.

That did not however mean that he had said those things to his lady directly, as he had not even once mentioned his honest feelings about the matter. The reason for this was quite simple; after she had completely and utterly convinced him that there was no chance for them to ever be together, Tyke had fought to maintain an even stronger appearance of devotion to his duty in order to not look like he might slack off or even shirk them when his affections had been shot down.

This had meant doing even more work in his free time, rather than hang out with his men, along with uncompromisingly obeying each and every one of his lady's commands to the letter.

He knew that he was overcompensating for his transgressions at some point, but what really bothered him was that he did not know how his lady viewed this entire thing. Had she forgiven him? Forgot about it? Or was all of this really a test to see whether he was still able to properly perform his duties?

She had never struck him as the type to do the latter, but then again, he could not completely shake off the feeling either. After all, when she had exited that emergency meeting, he had never seen her so excited before, although it was hidden under a veil of anger, almost like a small child reacting to a long gone parent finally coming home.

He had thought that she would have put him on suspended notice after their talk, or at least changed her interactions with him, but she had never done a single thing to indicate that it had ever happened, neither in her personal behaviour towards him nor in her orders to him.

That was what really made Tyke doubt whether this all was some kind of grand test to see whether he was still worthy of being the captain of the night shift. No commander should have been able to go on completely like nothing had happened after her subordinate dropped such a bomb on her, at least not without there being some repercussions.

Tyke could handle repercussions, as long as she did not want him to resign, because if she had at least given him some small sort of punishment, then he would have at least known that she had believed the matter to be settled, but none had come and so, he had had to constantly wander whether they might eventually.

Oh, but all of this worrying was distracting him from his duties, and that was something that was completely unacceptable to Tyke. His lady had entrusted him with the caretaking of her fief of Eregion until she returned from her expedition, and he would rather be damned to a slow merciless death than let her down.

"Walter, where is the supply report that I asked you to bring?", Captain Tyke said to the assistant that had been constantly with him since this assignment began a month ago.

"Uh, I gave it to you when you asked me for it two hours ago, captain?", the assistant said from across the desk, which made no sense, since he would not have anything to do sitting there doing work hours.

A chorus of laughter from around him, from what Tyke quickly recognized as the other guardsmen, made him look up in surprise, as he found that in his right hand was not the pen that he had thought it was, but rather a fork, and that the 'desk' was actually one of the mess hall's long-tables, which also just happened to have a plate of food in front of him. How did he get from the office and down here in a second?

"He blinked out again, did he not?", a guardsman behind Tyke said while laughing, "I swear that this is the third time in two weeks that that has happened, and yet it never stops being hilarious".

"Grab another pint, captain", the guardsman on his right cheerfully said while filling Tyke's nearly empty goblet with the contents of his own, "you have been so tense ever since our dear lady, may the gods protect her, left us to go on some hush hush mission and left you in charge. Relax and have another drink once in a while, you seem like you could use it as more and more time fly by".

"I worry about her", Tyke said, while sipping from his newly refilled goblet.

"She is a DRAGON RIDER with a DRAGON with her", the same guard practically spelled out, as if Tyke was not completely aware of what his lady was, "plus, she has an honour-guard of 200 of the best with her, so she should be fine no matter where she goes, although you should know more about this than us poor chaps".

"I still worry", Tyke mumbled down into his goblet.

"That is our captain for you", the guard loudly said while grabbing another's pint goblet and half-emptying it in one go, "if he worried even a fraction of a fraction more, I would say that he was the husband and our lady the wife, only that the roles would have been reversed".

Another bout of laughter broke out during this, at which point the guardsman stepped onto the table and maid a mock bow while saying, "thank you, thank you. I will be here all through the war".

"I just forgot that I have something to do", Tyke stoically said, stood up and abruptly walked away, but before he exited the mess hall, he turned around and glaringly said, "I will excuse you this time, but do not let me hear you refer to our lady in such a lewd manner ever again".

As Tyke walked down the hallways towards his office, his mood in shambles because of the inappropriate joke, he did not hear the light set of footprints sprinting in his direction until they were no more than a few metres away, at which point he whipped around to confront his potential would-be-assassin, only to discover that the light footprints actually belonged to his lady's young niece.

Tyke had no thoughts about the girl other than that she was his lady's niece and that she used to be quite cheery and playful. He had never taken the time to get to know her better for the simple reason that she was just visiting, although a long visit at that, and that he really did not see what they had in common to even contemplate getting to know each other on a personal level.

"Are you not supposed to be in bed, young miss?", Tyke asked politely to the small girl, who, despite him having turned around to face her, kept running until she engulfed his lower body in an awfully strong hug.

Completely confused by her actions, it was only when Tyke heard her small sobs that he awkwardly reached down and patted her back while trying his best to soothe her by saying, "there, there…you are safe here".

It was pretty much a complete guess what to say, as Tyke had never had much contact with children. Nor could he say that he understood them, but survival instinct was often the cause of crying for children, at least that was what he thought, although it still confused him why she had come to him instead of her father, who was residing here at the moment.

"I know that I am!", the little girl shouted, while burying her face even deeper into his uniform.

"…then what is the matter, young miss?", Tyke softly asked as he once again tried awkwardly patting her back. At this point, he desperately prayed that someone more knowledgeable would come and deal with this, like her father, because he was definitely not qualified for this.

"I had a scary dream", the little girl sobbingly said.

And how was he supposed to deal with that if it did not entail her survival? Tyke was completely lost at this subject, but he tried to persevere anyway by taking another guess, "dreams are not real. Why do you not tell me what happened and then we can work it out?"

"I saw my auntie surrounded by foul beasts on a field of grass in front of a large city at the sea. They were just about to kill her and uncle Adûn when the dream stopped", the little girl said while sniffing, "tell me that auntie is okay!"

…yeah, this might explain why she had come to him instead of her father. Of all the people currently residing in Nolondil, Tyke was the only one that knew exactly what his lady had set out to do, and the fact that this girl had described Feinster with such detail without ever having heard of her aunt's expedition's destination worried him slightly.

Then again, the city that she saw in her dream could just as well have been a figment of her own imagination, and the fact that she was worried about his lady this much did not surprise him. She had after all just recently lost her mother.

Tyke had never bothered to inquire upon the details about it, as it had nothing to do with him or his duties what went on in the rest of the ever famous Shadeslayer family, but he did understand that her mother, who to his understanding was more of a healer than a fighter, had been sent on a mission from Ilirea to the newly freed Dras-Leona as part of a team of healers to help with the wounded and sick, and that their group had been ambushed by lethrblaka on their way. As far as Tyke had heard, no one had survived.

Ever since then, Tyke's lady's brother had been allowed leave to go comfort their little daughter and to give himself time to grieve for his loss.

"I am sure that your aunt will be safe and sound. I handpicked and trained her honour-guard myself, so you have nothing to worry about", Tyke tried to ease the little girl's worries, "it was just a dream, and dreams do not equal reality. I am sure that she will be back here within a month or so, so cease crying and go back to bed".

"Alright, thank you mister Tyke", the little girl said, as she detached herself from him while wiping away her tears, before beginning to walk back the way she came.

_Better make sure that she gets there all right…and since when did she know my name?_, Tyke mused as he quickly caught up with her, while excusing it by saying, "I was headed in that direction anyways myself, so why not walk together?"

"Okay, mister Tyke", the little girl said and then tried to grab hold of his arm, only to realize the folly of it since Tyke always walked with his arms folded behind his back, "but I am keeping you to your promise that nothing will happen to my auntie".

Tyke could only nod in acceptance, still being confused by her previous strange actions. He did however choose not to mention that Loivissa had left a last will in his care, in case she did not get back. It would only further upset the already emotionally disturbed child.

**Loivissa POV  
**It was mid-afternoon and Loivissa was sitting on a moss-covered rock enjoying a moment of peace and quiet, before her troops would move out again.

Herself, Captain Lauran and their 200 men had been on the march since sundown, in which time they had only taken a lunch break and then this one, before they would then continue down the Spine towards Feinster, as they had been doing for the last month or so.

They travelled by day because the lethrblaka were best at hunting at night, so therefore it was best for them to not make too much of a stir during that time. Adûn had unfortunately been grounded, as the probability of anyone seeing him flying was simply too high, so he trailed behind on foot, and was quite sullen about it.

Loivissa was hopeful that they would be able to arrive in Feinster within the day, which would be cutting it pretty close to the exact date that a year had passed since Mercury's last letter had arrived.

She knew that it might be kind of weird to consider that Mercury would arrive EXACTLY one year after he had sent that letter, but she figured that as long as they remained in hiding, they could probably wait for a few weeks or so before they would have to withdraw back north due to lack of supplies.

Loivissa knew that this expedition had caused a lot of headaches for quite a few people, but it had not truly hit her what everyone thought of it until she had told her niece that she would be leaving for a little while on the night before their departure.

In hindsight, Loivissa probably should have expected Helen to react the way she did, having recently lost her mother, whom Loivissa also still grieved for, as Celiste had been a dear friend of Loivissa's. Helen had naturally been afraid that the same would happen to her, so she had tried to convince Loivissa not to go.

When that had not worked, she had resorted to sulking in her room and avoiding Loivissa whenever she would try to talk to her about it, but Loivissa's travel plans did unfortunately not give time to deal with the matter, so when they had begun to move out the next morning, and Loivissa still had not managed to reconcile with her niece, she had thought that that would be their end note until she returned.

To her surprise however, Helen had suddenly burst from a bush and grabbed unto her leg in an effort to make her stay. It had caused quite a scene, but her guards had had the decency to look away while her brother arrived to try and defuse the situation.

In the end, Loivissa had somewhat managed to convince her niece that she would be safe, and in an effort to prove it, Loivissa had given Helen her bracelet from Mercury to hold unto until Loivissa returned.

And in the case that she did not, then Loivissa had left a will with Tyke that named Helen as her rightful heir, not that Loivissa expected to die at all on this trip, but recent events had taught her that it was better to be prepared for the worst in times of war.

"We move out men", Captain Lauran said to rouse the men in order to continue their march.

_Right, off to meet destiny_, Loivissa thought as she sprung from the rock and landed as nimbly as a cat.

It was not long before Adûn decided that enough was enough, so in an effort to distract him from feeling the wind beneath his wings, Loivissa suggested that they play a game.

_I spy with my eye…something that begins with a T_, Loivissa started the game.

_Trees_, Kilgharrah guessed correctly, before he tried, _I spy with my eye something that begins with an S_.

_Sky?_, Loivissa guessed incorrectly, before she tried to look around to see if something begins with an S.

There was a squirrel, a shoe, a sapling and many more, but none of them were correct either.

_What is it then?_, Loivissa asked defeated and dismayed at having only gone a single round before having to admit defeat.

_Stephen_, Adûn answered smugly.

_Who is Stephen?_, Loivissa asked confused.

_He is the one that drags the food cart in front of me_, Adûn answered.

_That is not fair! How am I supposed to know the names of every one of these men?_, Loivissa said in mock outrage, although Adûn's little prank had managed to alleviate her boredom somewhat.

_Not my problem, it was you who suggested this game after all_, Adûn countered, _now try this one, I spy something with my eye that begins with an A_.

_Lethrblaka_, Loivissa said suddenly.

_No, lethrblaka begins with an L_, Adûn managed to say before Loivissa overruled him, _no dummy, there are lethrblaka coming from behind us_.

The news of the lethrblaka quickly spread around, which made everyone throw whatever foliage was available atop the carts, before taking shelter themselves in whatever hide they could find. Adûn was however far too large to be covered quickly enough by foliage, and his sea-blue scales were far too noticeable to not be seen from the sky during daylight, so Loivissa quickly spun a spell of concealment around him, in which she herself and Captain Lauran also took refuge.

"Nobody does anything stupid or I will make you wish that the ra'zac eat you for supper", Captain Lauran said hushed, just as the two lethrblaka were nearly right on top of them.

As the lethrblaka flew above them, time seemed to slow down for Loivissa. Everything and everyone appeared to be far too visible to not be spotted, and even the silent breaths that everyone took seemed awfully loud to her.

That was when a terrifying screech split the air, as one of the lethrblaka cried out. The sound was almost enough to make Loivissa's ears bleed, but that seemed to be the lesser of two evils, as she could see that all the men around her were completely and utterly mortified by the sound.

Eventually, the screech died down, but just as Loivissa thought that it was over, the other one split the air with an even more terrifying screech. She did not know whether they suspected that she and her men were here, but she highly hoped that it was just some standard thing to do for them so close to Feinster.

"No, let me go! I want to get out of here! I can make a run for it now if I hurry!", some man, whose name Loivissa was unsure of whether she had ever heard, said in what was clearly a panicked and frenzied state.

The two guards next to him tried to hold him down, but when a third screech split the air, they were too overcome with controlling themselves to be able to stop him.

Loivissa could only watch in dread as the man jolted from his hiding spot and began to run madly in a seemingly random direction. If the lethrblaka saw him, they would all be utterly and thoroughly doomed.

"Oh no you do not", Captain Lauran said from beside her, apparently having become unfazed of the lethrblaka screeches by the sudden urgency, and before she had time to consider his actions, he had drawn his hunting bow, knocked an arrow and fired it.

The arrow went silently and deadly into the poor man's back, after which he immediately fell over and died. Loivissa forced her gaze away from her previous comrade-in-arms and towards the sky, where she noticed that one of the lethrblaka made a sharp turn in the direction of the body.

_Please do not see it, please do not see it. It is just a part of nature, nothing for you to worry about_, Loivissa chanted internally, although the logical part of her mind knew that it did not matter.

A few intense seconds passed before the two lethrblaka apparently decided that there truly had been nothing there and that they should move on, at which point Loivissa let out a breath that she had not been aware that she had been holding.

"Talk about a close one", Captain Lauran said beside her, "now let us bury the body and get out of here before they decide to see whether there was anything to find after all".

Everyone quickly worked together to move out as quickly as they could, but with a much more sombre feeling this time around.

_Was it really necessary to shoot him?_, Loivissa asked her eternal companion, while on the move.

_I understand the captain's decision to do so_, Adûn answered sombrely, _if the lethrblaka had spotted him, everyone would have been in mortal danger, but if he just dropped dead, then the rest might be safe. Still, it was a sad way to go for Stephen_.

_That was Stephen?_, Loivissa asked.

_Yeah, but I am sure that the new one that drags the food cart is also a decent guy_, Adûn said, _do not let it worry you too much, dear. Everyone who came here knew that they had to take a risk, and yet it has still been an overall safer position for them to be stationed in, with the years in Nolondil counting that is, than if they had been deployed as regulars on the frontline_.

_Still, it seemed like such a waste of life_, Loivissa countered, unwilling to let the subject go.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day, but they had to make camp for the night earlier than expected, so Loivissa guessed that they would just make it to Feinster in the morning hours then.

Early the next morning, everyone was in higher spirits than they had been during the previous evening, and so the march continued as usual.

It only took a few hours before they reached the edge of the forest leading down to Feinster, but upon deciding that only a pair should keep watch over the bay during any given time in order to minimize exposing themselves to the enemy. It was further decided that since Loivissa and Captain Lauran was the leaders of this expedition, they should have the honour of being given the first watch.

"Have you ever seen Feinster before, captain?", Loivissa asked as they ventured nearer and nearer to the forest's edge.

"No, I am afraid that this will be my first time", the captain denied, as he pushed aside a branch.

"Well, I remember it to be quite beautiful seen from the east during a sunset, although I am afraid that we will not get a chance to do that any time soon", Loivissa supplied as she walked the large distance to see Feinster for the first time in years.

The city was close to what she remembered it to be, but the black-clad black-shielded army standing between it and their part of the forest had definitely not been there when she had last been here.

_We are so screwed_, Loivissa thought with dread as the black-shielded men began clapping their swords against their shields in an orderly rhythm.

* * *

Yes, I killed off Celiste, and in a fashion that did not do anything for plot so far, but if you still think that some people are sacred in this series, I highly advise you to rethink that thought. Valar Morghulis!


	7. Where is he?

Welcome back to Mammoth Monday!After spotting not so few errors in the last chapter, I decided to recheck all chapters from that one and until two weeks ago for grammatical errors. That is 60k+ words even without the last two week's 20k+ words! You better appreciate my obsessional sense of writer's perfection! Or just forget that I ever said so, either actually works for me.  
-Rant ended

Enjoy!

* * *

**Where is he?**

**Loivissa POV  
**_We are so screwed_, Loivissa thought with dread as the black-shielded men began clapping their swords against their shields in an orderly rhythm.

"Shit, those are the Dead Guard, the elite personal guard of the ra'zac", Captain Lauran cursed beside Loivissa, "we have to warn the others".

At that very moment, at least three lethrblaka chose to announce their presence by eliciting terrifying screeches somewhere behind the main expedition's campsite.

"I think they already know by now", Loivissa said dryly, but complied nonetheless with the captain's recommendation to rendezvous with the others.

They had only reached the halfway point between their previous lookout and the campsite, when a small group of officers burst forth from the foliage with clear panic evident on their features, before they, upon noticing the pair, panicked asked, "what is happening?!"

"The lethrblaka spotted us earlier and has set a trap for us", Captain Lauran spoke, his calm restored, "have the men bring all the bows and arrows that we have and begin setting up ambush points in the trees. This is not a battle, so have them armour lightly…oh, and Loivissa, tell Adûn to meet us here as soon as possible, but without alerting the entire city of his presence".

"Yes, at once captain", the officers said in unison, before dashing off to fulfil their orders.

"What do you need Adûn and I to do?", Loivissa asked curiously after forwarding the message, "I am the best archer that we have got, as well as the best swordsman, but when the lethrblaka spots us, they will come in greater numbers. Three, we might be able to hold off, but any more and we will be completely overwhelmed".

"I have no intention of letting you face those things in the air", the captain merely responded, but upon her confused expression, he clarified, "in the open, we will be completely and utterly crushed, but if Adûn can stall the enemy from reaching the forest for long enough for us to set up enough ambush points, then we might be able to skirmish our way out of this mess. Plus, as long as we keep to the denser parts of the forest, then the lethrblaka will be practically useless".

Seeing the cunning in his strategy, Loivissa quickly relayed it to Adûn via their bond, and not a minute later, they both stood at the forest's edge, although Adûn only had his snout visible. The Dead Guard had begun their march in an orderly formation, completely in sync with each other, so that it looked like they were moving as one.

Currently, they were three quarters of the way between Feinster and the forest that Loivissa and her expedition were in. The clanging of swords against shields had never stopped, and it was more than a little unsettling to hear if Loivissa had to be honest.

_Light them up_, Loivissa requested of her beloved partner-of-heart-and-mind.

Adûn did not even waste a second to hesitation, before he let loose torrents of sea-blue coloured flames upon the ranks and files of black soldiers. Unfortunately for the pair, the soldier's only response to the torrent of death coming their way was to open every fifth rank and let soldiers, whose only distinction from the rest was a shining gem placed in the middle of their black shields, come up to the front, where they quickly moved three steps ahead of the rest, before crouching down and ducking behind their shields.

As the torrent hit the soldiers, the gems lighted up all across the line, which caused the fiery torrent to pass harmlessly above its intended targets.

"Barzûl", Loivissa cursed as the fire seemed to have absolutely no effect on them. In hindsight, she should have realized that during the eight-year war between the ra'zac and Alagaësia, the ra'zac had to have developed a counter against dragonfire. The Dead Guard meanwhile seemed to also have realized that nothing further was coming, which prompted them to start up their forward march once again, still with the shield-bearers three steps in front of the rest to break the fire.

_How much longer do you need us to keep them occupied?_, Loivissa asked, as she stretched out her consciousness and was allowed entry into Captain Lauran's mind.

_At least another ten to fifteen minutes_, the captain answered, _though if it proves impossible to do so, then I would rather have you withdraw than die trying_.

_I will not fail you_, Loivissa answered with determination, before cutting off the link.

_Any better ideas?_, Adûn asked her, while still maintaining his torrent of fire, because although it did not stop them completely, it did slow them down considerably.

_If we cannot kill them, then let us stop them_, Loivissa said after some consideration, _try aiming your fire down upon the earth nearer the forest's edge. If we can heat a long enough stretch enough to make it impossible to walk on, then we might be able to stop them_.

Adûn quickly complied with her idea, which took the fire off of the soldiers, but they did not break their previous formation, as he could direct it at them again with a moment's notice, although they did quicken their pace considerable now that they were no longer holding off a torrent of fire.

It did not take long for the Dead Guard to reach the stretch that had been heated, where they stopped as Loivissa had hoped that they would. What she had not hoped for however, was the barrels of water being brought forth and emptied upon the scorched land from somewhere behind the front.

No matter how much Adûn tried, he simply could not keep up with the water being splashed to cool the ground and it was not long before the Dead Guard started moving forward again.

_Captain, they are almost at the forest now_, Loivissa alerted the captain.

_Fall back then. We are almost finished setting up anyway_, Captain Lauran instructed.

Loivissa quickly complied, but because Adûn was grounded on the earth, and the fact that he was as large as he was, they could only slowly move between the trees. The Dead Guard on the other hand was not hindered by this, so they quickly began to catch up to the pair.

It was not long before the first three descended upon them, but because Loivissa had stayed behind Adûn to protect him against just that, she was ready to repel them.

The first strike was easily enough parried by Loivissa, but before she could exploit the soldier's opening, another had already moved in to block her strike with his black shield, while the third attempted to get behind Loivissa, while her attention was kept on the two in front.

Loivissa did not fall for this however, so after a quick slash at the third, which more was meant as a distraction than an actual attack, she retreated further backwards, which was possible because Adûn kept moving during her fight.

When next the soldiers struck, two additional had joined them in their onslaught. The cycle quickly repeated itself, and despite her far superior skill to all of her opponents, Loivissa was unable to kill even one of them, and as more and more joined the onslaught on her, the distance that Adûn was able to put between them during her fights grew shorter and shorter until it finally ended up with one long consecutive fight.

At this point, a group of 15 Dead Guards had formed to swarm Loivissa, and no matter how much she tried, she simply could not finish off any of them. Whenever she eventually managed to expose one, which was an event that became rarer and rarer as she tired against the enemy, who was able to constantly shift out to avoid fatigue, that person would simply be protected from being killed off by either a sword aimed at her or a shield blocking her strike.

Adûn was unable to do anything to help her in the dense forest. His massive size obstructed him from being able to do anything other than keep retreating towards the hope of salvation by their expedition.

Just as Loivissa thought that all hope was out, when the Dead Guard had managed to surround her and cut off any further attempt to fall back, an arrow suddenly appeared at an odd angle between the cuirass and the helmet of one of the Dead Guards.

The arrow had appeared in such an angle that the only explanation could be that it had been fired from above, but before either Loivissa or the remaining Dead Guards had time to comprehend this, a hail of arrows began raining down upon the Dead Guards from above.

The men screamed as they died, but none had time to as much as raise their shields in defence, before they too had arrows imbedded in them.

Upon looking up, Loivissa was able to spot several of the men from her expedition perched on the branches above her, although she doubted that anyone without the knowledge of them being there would be able to.

"If you would follow me back to our new campsite, while the others guard our backs, my lady", a man dropping down from the trees said, before he started to walk in a new direction.

"Why has the campsite been moved?", Loivissa asked as she followed the man.

"The captain ordered it to be so in order to keep it hidden", the man answered.

They did not talk much after that, but when Loivissa occasionally looked up into the trees, she thought that she saw blankets and quivers in them.

Not long after she had first met the man, they reached the new campsite, where she found Captain Lauran hovering over a table with what she recognized as their urgal maps of this part of the Spine. Upon the map were several pinecones, branches and rocks, which Loivissa guessed to be representatives of their men and their enemies'.

"Send Wurst's group to help Anders', and have Kenneth's move to point three", the captain barked orders to his runners, before he noticed Loivissa's arrival.

"Good, you are here. Soldier, dismissed", the captain said in their direction, upon which the man that had escorted Loivissa and Adûn here saluted and took off to rejoin his group.

"How are we doing, captain?", Loivissa asked worried.

"We have been able to inflict enough damage to force most of them to withdraw from the forest and are in the midst of routing the rest", the captain answered, "your efforts bought us enough time to even out the odds".

"I can see that you changed campsites", Loivissa stated after nodding in consent to the acknowledgement.

"Yeah, but I still have some fires burning in the old one to keep the enemy thinking that that is where we are hiding. If they reach it, I have arranged for a trap to ensure that none of them come out alive. Although it may have been unnecessary to do so, as the enemy appears to be withdrawing enough already to allow us to retreat back to Kuasta, before returning back north".

"But if we do that, then we will not be able to help Mercury once he arrives", Loivissa objected.

"We have only been able to throw them back this time because they were unprepared for skirmishing, who knows whether we will be able to do so again", Captain Lauran argued, "plus, even if this being arrives, then we will not even be able to assist him in any way unless he makes it to us himself".

"You said that you prepared several ambushes, can they not hold them off for just another week?", Loivissa pleaded, "if we wait that long, then I am sure that he will arrive. If we do not, then all of this, and all the lives that have been lost until now, will have been in vain".

The captain looked like he was conflicted between his duty to his men and to his liege, until he finally grudgingly complied, "fine! We might, and I emphasize might, be able to hold out for another week, but if I believe our position to be overrun, then I will order a full retreat, your boyfriend be damned".

"That is all that I can ask", Loivissa hastily agreed, overlooking the inappropriate and untrue boyfriend comment at the end.

**Time skip(four days later)  
**It was in the morning four days after they had first arrived here, and during those four days, the ra'zac's assault on them had not seized, only changed.

After they had managed to drive them off the first day, the ra'zac had come back as ghosts in the night. Quite a few men had been killed during that night, but the ruse of the fake campsite and nimbly placed ambushes and fall back points had managed to deter the ra'zac from personally trying such a thing again.

They had been left in peace for the remainder of the next day, only to be woken the second night by a night-time raid by more lightly armoured troops scouring the forest. Luckily for them, Captain Lauran had decided that each night, they were to pack up all of their tents and belongings that they had used during the day, and sleep with it in the branches high above the ground.

This had ensured that their campsite had not been discovered and had helped to sow further chaos as to where exactly these numerically superior troops should concentrate their strength on. As the captain had said, "even the mightiest of beasts can be defeated if he does not know where to aim his strike next".

When military might seemed to be ineffective, the ra'zac had tried something else entirely. On the morning after the night-time raid, a number of plates filled to the brim with the most delicious looking and smelling food had been scattered throughout the forest edge.

Naturally, Loivissa, the captain and the officers had tried to dissuade the men from eating the food, as it was clearly not meant as a peace-offering, but more likely was part of some sinister plot. As it turned out, they had been right, because after a few of the men had given in to their desires and started devouring the food, they had begun coughing up blood and eventually died.

If that was not bad enough, then they had also learned the hard way that any that came into contact with the blood of the infected also became infected, so in the end, they had had to quarantine the ones that had been near known infected and burn the bodies of the infected.

On the third day after their arrival, no word or sighting of the ra'zac or their forces had come. It was decided that they were likely hoping that by waiting, they could let the infection take care of most of the problem without wasting too many assets on them or risking becoming infected themselves.

During the fourth night after their arrival, several small lightly armoured groups of men had come through the forest. Judging by their behaviour, their purpose were more to check on the food's impact on Loivissa's expedition than to fight them, but Loivissa's men had been feeling vindictive after the food trick, so none had left the forest alive.

Now, on the fourth day, the mood among the men had deteriorated greatly from the light optimism that had been there after the first foray. Everywhere Loivissa went, the men stopped talking and turned their heads away, before resuming in a muffled voice as soon as they thought she was out of hearing range.

They blamed her for their misery, for having to constantly wonder what the ra'zac could possibly come up with next. Would they be killed by some foul dark magic the next day, or perhaps eaten by a ra'zac, or killed on a sword or pierced by an arrow? They never knew what fate might have in store for them, but what seemed to be the most recurring theme was that they did not understand the reason behind why they had to do this.

All of them had been briefed about their mission shortly after leaving Nolondil behind, ensuring that no one could let it slip by accident to an outsider, but although they knew the purpose behind this expedition, they still did not fully understand it.

Sure, they may have heard tales of 'The Shadow' from their childhood, but when told that he is in fact not a mythical being directly employed by Angvard himself, their bubbles kind of burst. If something that had been common folklore in Alagaësia for more than a century turned out to be untrue, then what else might be?

Still, even with Loivissa assuring them that Mercury indeed was not this mythical messenger of death, most of them still considered him to be beyond the scopes of mortals, and therefore in control of powers beyond their comprehension.

This should have had a positive effect on the morale of Loivissa's men, but as it turned out, it also had an exponentially bigger negative effect the longer time they were forced to wait here. The reason behind the negative effect was simple; if Mercury was such a powerful being, then why could he not show up when he was supposed to, instead of having them have to fight off the ra'zac every day in a pointless battle?

And so their inability to understand the reason behind staying here came down to this; if Mercury was powerful enough to turn the tide of war by himself, then he was simply choosing to let them get killed right now, but if he was not, then their dying would be equally pointless. All in all, dying here was pointless to them.

"Any idea on what they might try next?", Loivissa asked Captain Lauran, whom controlled all the military aspects of this expedition.

"None, I am afraid", the captain answered her while perusing their maps of the forest, "I do not like this silence any more than you do. At least when they are hammering on our doorstep, I know where to look and what to defend from, but when they are quiet like this, it never bodes well".

"I know what you mean", Loivissa agreed, before changing topic slightly, "I do however wonder why they persist so much. It is not as if we stand even a chance of taking the city from them or doing anything in the open, and we are not even bothering them as long as we stay here, so continuing to waste troops on eradicating us seems illogical, especially when they know that we must eventually withdraw due to lack of supplies".

"I suppose that it is not something that one such as you would understand, my lady", the captain answered heavily.

"Why not?", Loivissa questioned suspiciously. If this was about her being female, then she would give the captain a piece of her mind about what she thought of how the humans viewed their females.

"You have never bothered with such things as prestige or gaining and holding fame", the captain answered, likely anticipating what she was thinking, "and as such, you do not understand the mind of commissioned officers. Officers live on their name, so when we first came, the officer in charge of Feinster likely saw us as nothing more than a nuisance to be rid of as a matter of principle, rather than necessity, but when we won and continued to win, then it became something quite different. Our continued presence here is now not only a symbol of his own failure to defeat such a minor force, but could also set an example for the rest of Alagaësia that even as severely outnumbered as we are, we were still able to stop the ra'zac empire's armies at the very core of their power. Unless the officer gains a decisive victory soon, then he will likely be stripped of command entirely and probably eaten alive if he is human".

"So he literally has no choice but to continue fighting, even if he too finds it pointless", Loivissa surmised.

"Yes, I am afraid so", Captain Lauran agreed, before changing topic, "and on the topic of pointless; I am afraid that our own men thinks that being here is pointless as well. Several of my officers have already begged me to make you reconsider withdrawing, and I have even had to stomp out the beginnings of a mutiny yesterday. I am afraid that if they attack again tomorrow, then the men will demand that we retreat afterwards or they might begin deserting en masse".

"So neither party wants to fight each other but has no choice but to", Loivissa chortled, "what is the world coming to when two enemy armies are in agreement that they do not want to fight each other but still have to?"

"It is how it has always been", Captain Lauran said besides her, sounding more like a wise old man than a grizzled war veteran, "when two powerful entities' ideals conflict, then they will both seek to cow the other, more often than not resulting in a military solution".

"I wish it was not so, I wish tha-", Loivissa said before stopping abruptly, "do you smell smoke?"

The captain took a long sniff, before shaking his head, "no, are you sure that it is not just the smoke from the city that you smell?"

"It cannot be, the wind is coming down from the mountains to the north", Loivissa objected, "and I think that it is growing stronger".

"Hmm…Azoroth, Harulf, run north and see whether a fire has been started", the captain quickly barked out orders, before turning to Loivissa and saying, "I still do not think that it is something to concern ourselves with, but I would rather be proven wrong than be caught by surprise".

Not 15 minutes later, the two came running back. They looked like they had just seen their worst nightmare come to life and were completely out of breath and looking like they might faint any moment now.

Yet despite this, they still managed to give their report between gulps of the water skin that had hastily been handed to them, "a great fire is ablaze a little north of here. It covers the entire length of the forest and is beginning to move this way swiftly".

"Blast it, no way that it is coincidental", the captain cursed, "the enemy must have set it up during last night to attempt to force us into the open".

"Is there any way for our mage and the lady to ward us against the flames as we walk through them?", an officer asked.

"No, it would not be possible", Loivissa denied, "to ward so many against so much heat would be incredibly taxing for even a very short while, but as the fire spreads, so does our time in it, if that were to be attempted".

"So we have the option between dying a fiery and gruesome death or going outside the forest to die against a vastly superior army?", the same officer surmised grimly, "I do not know about you guys, but I never was one to go down without a fight, and if it is a fight that they want, then I shall fight them unto my dying breath and make damn sure that they will remember me for it".

The speech quickly spread a wave hurrahs and "to the death!" among both officers and soldiers alike. The will to fight seemed to spread far quicker than the very fire that would soon consume them if they continued to loiter here.

It was…strange…for Loivissa to observe how the human mind could change so rapidly from one moment to the next. Not half an hour ago, many of the ones that spoke loudest now were also the ones that begged to leave and stop fighting the loudest, but now, any such thoughts seemed to have vanished from their mind.

She supposed that it was something that she would never understand, now that her time alive seemed to be at its end. For some reason, it saddened her that she would never truly be able to understand those men around her that had given so much for her hopes.

_Mercury, where are you? Why are you not here like you promised?_, Loivissa thought at the very moment before the battle.

The plan was simple; she would ride out on Adûn and try to incinerate any part of their army that was not protected by those shields, before engaging and hopefully taking down as many lethrblaka as she could, while the rest of the men would storm out of the forest and fire their loaded bows on the run, before dropping it and drawing their swords.

'Take down as many of them as you can before dying' was the unspoken agreement among the expedition members.

As Loivissa looked from atop Adûn towards the ocean from the forest edge, she could see that it had a dense morning fog obscuring all but the last 50 metres to the shore.

_A shame, I would have liked to see it one last time_, Loivissa mused darkly, before being answered by Adûn, _I know how you feel, but if it is any conciliation, then my scales are said to be as beautiful, if not more, than the waters of the ocean_.

_Leave it to a dragon to be prideful right before impending doom_, Loivissa thought with a dry grin, _but thank you anyway, my partner-of-heart-and-mind. I was truly blessed to have been chosen by you_.

_As I was truly blessed to be presented for you_, Adûn answered and poured all of his love for her through their bond, which Loivissa soon reciprocated.

A horn sounded and Adûn let out a mighty roar before sprinting out of the forest and taking flight, trying but failing to do a quick fly over and incinerate some black-clad men.

Below them, the duo could hear the trampling of feet and the twangs of bows being fired, before the two armies clashed in a fiery battle to the death. Around them, at least three lethrblaka circled, all looking ready to spill more than their fair share of blood for the grief that Loivissa's expedition had caused them.

Just as Loivissa and Adûn were about to engage the first one, a mighty horn sounded to the west, which seemed to make both sides stop the fighting to witness what this new thing was.

Out of the thick dense fog came the navy-blue stem of what seemed to be a giant ship with at least three decks above the water. Then, as the ship proceeded to exit the thick fog, one, three masts with pure white sails came into sight.

_He came, he finally came_

* * *

Oh, I am keeping you guys in suspension, am I not? The truly great thing about this is that I just showed A ship coming out the fog, not necessarily The ship, but I surely would not be so cruel as doing something as that...or am I?


	8. Negotiations of a sort

...and now for the conclusion on this Before Friday Thursday. Well...one conclusion at least.

* * *

**Negotiations, of a sort**

**Loivissa POV  
**_He came, he finally came_, Loivissa thought with a mixture of euphoria, anger and sorrow twirling around in a battle for dominance within her.

On one side, his coming here was the entire point of their being here, but if he had not been so late, then most of the deaths of her men could have been avoided. However, in the end, if his coming here really could speed up the process of ending this war, then every life lost would be repaid more than a hundredfold.

The horn from earlier blew yet again, as if to announce that if they did not already know it, a new player had arrived on the board. The three lethrblaka with their ra'zac offspring riding them seemed to snap out of the stupor that the ship's appearance had brought them in.

Two immediately headed for the ship, while the third flew back to Feinster at a breakneck pace, Loivissa and Adûn having been completely forgotten in the process. As soon as the two lethrblaka neared the navy-blue ship, a white flag was sent atop the highest of its three masts, the middle one.

Almost in one single moment, Loivissa could hear the animated chattering from her men turn into groans and shouts of outrage. It was at this very moment that the other lethrblaka that had flown to Feinster, now returned with two other lethrblaka with ra'zac riding them.

All three of them immediately headed for Loivissa's position, where Loivissa only just managed to see her men being completely surrounded by the superior enemy force out of the corner of her eyes, before she too was once again circled by the three lethrblaka and their offspring.

"sssurrender now, she-elf, and your men may ssstill get to live", one of the ra'zac, presumably their leader, said in their screechy tongue.

_Adûn?_, Loivissa asked her companion for advice. She really did not know what to do anymore. Her men were as good as dead if she did not surrender, as was she, and the entire purpose of their being here had just signalled that he wanted to parlay with their enemies.

_Further death serves no purpose_, Adûn answered her unspoken question.

"I-, we surrender if you promise not to harm any of my men", Loivissa surrendered in a half-broken voice.

"Of courssse, we are not sssavages after all", the same ra'zac answered, before it gave orders to strip all of her men from their weapons and detain them only, before looking at Loivissa and continuing, "now you mussst land as well and leave your dragon here. From the looksss of things, you were expecting this ssship to arrive, so you will come with usss".

Unable to deny the order, lest her men might get killed or eaten alive, Loivissa complied and landed, before she said her farewells to her most beloved dragon, was relieved of her sword and any further weapons that she carried with her, and was then escorted to the lethrblaka of the ra'zac that she had spoken to, with her hands tightly bound behind her back.

To ride on a lethrblaka was not at all like riding a dragon. Gone were the majestic view of scales and the feeling of them on her hands, replaced instead by the dry brown leathery hide of the lethrblaka with their black eyes with no pupils.

Their scent also seemed to reek of death to Loivissa, almost making her puke when they took off from the ground. The flight was no picnic either, as Loivissa constantly had a fear that the lethrblaka might do something unexpected and cause her to fall off its side and plummet towards the water, which at this height would surely kill her. All of this making the trip to Mercury's ship, which was only just out of the thick fog, almost unbearable.

Luckily for her, the trip across the sea to Mercury's ship was relatively short and uneventful. The ship itself looked in as pristine condition as if it had just been made and painted, with well-oiled wooden railings decorating the sides of the ship and the stairs leading to the elevated platforms at the stern and bow.

The makeup of the ship was unlike any of the ships in Alagaësia, with a massive main deck that could easily have had her aunt Saphira and her uncle Fírnen resting on it comfortably, situated lower than the stern and bow. The height difference between the lower deck and the bow and stern, easily made for what could have been another deck to add to the existing three that were already above the water.

The mast furthest to the back of the ship was located just at the very edge between the higher stern and the lower main deck, while the one furthest in front was located just as the one to the back, except between the bow and the main deck. Smacked seemingly straight in the middle of these two mast was the highest of them all in the middle of the main deck.

As Loivissa let her eyes roam over the ship, three things caught her attention above the rest; the first was that no immediate crew could be seen aside from one. The second being that the ship seemed to have no steering rod, but strangely had a ring-shaped piece of wood with lots and lots of handles on it standing vertically at the stern.

The last thing was located slightly in front of the main mast, and was more precisely a wooden table with a crystal decanter and two crystal glasses on it, along with two wooden chairs on opposite sides of one another. The one closest to the main mast being occupied by none other than Mercury himself, who looked very relaxed as he sat there, occasionally sipping from the crystal glass in front of him.

Instead of landing on the deck of the ship, the ra'zac behind her merely grabbed hold of her arms, when they were hovering slightly above the deck, and jumped off with her in tow. Two other ra'zac did the same and landed on either side of the one that she was with, weapons already drawn in preparation for an ambush.

"Why did you wish to parlay with usss, human? Have you no idea of whom you are talking to?", the ra'zac holding Loivissa spoke first.

Mercury for his part seemed to be utterly unaffected by all of this, not even sparing a glance at Loivissa or her state of capture, while twirling his glass like this was nothing more than a bartering of crops, before he put it down, extended his hand towards the other seat and politely said, "please, let us not be so rude, have a seat. You will find that I am very well aware of to whom I am speaking, and for your information, I am not human", his words accented by his appearance as much as his seemingly otherworldly attitude.

Mercury had his silvery dragon-like eyes out in full view, which would have been enough to make even the most polite elf draw more than a few curious glances at them, and on his body, he wore nothing but a light-grey robe with a hood at his shoulders that had black embroidery at the edges of it and silvery embroidery at the fastenings up the middle.

His hair was still as grey as it had always been, being only slightly darker than the robe that he was wearing, but he kept it short as he had during their last travels, and just like the last time, he seemed to be newly shaved even.

The ra'zac holding Loivissa seemed to mull over the chances of this being an ambush, because if it was, then it really was not a very good one considering their total air dominance and that they could escape on the lethrblaka at a moment's notice, before it seemingly reluctantly decided to play along for now and took a seat at the chair offered to it, but not before handing Loivissa over to one of its guards, who made no attempt to hide the dagger ready to plunge into her back should anything fishy happen.

"Now that we are seated, could I offer you some wine? It is quite good, and I believe that you will like it…oh, that is right, I almost forgot", Mercury said as he filled the ra'zac's glass with the contents from the decanter, "**I promise you that I have not poisoned it and that I have no knowledge of it being tampered with in any way. It is the same that I have been drinking until now**".

The ra'zac took another look at Mercury, before slowly opening its beak and pouring some of the contents of the glass inside, upon which it said, "thisss is very good, but I did not come all the way out here to merely drink".

"I thought you might like it", Mercury said completely unconcerned, "straight to business then. Very well, I would like for you to cease your ventures in Alagaësia and surrender immediately. All land that you have taken is to be returned to its rightful owners and your army will be required to help rebuild what you have destroyed before it can return home, but I can promise you that unless they incite more bloodshed, they, and your fellow ra'zac and lethrblaka, will not be harmed any further".

…

No one said anything for a while after that. It was not just the order to basically surrender almost unconditionally that had them speechless, but more so in the light-aired tone that it had been delivered in, like Mercury was asking for no more than for someone to pick up a stone from the ground.

During the silence, Loivissa began to seriously question whether Mercury had lost his sense of reality during the years away. It certainly seemed that way to her, as she watched him sit there completely alone and without a single sign of expecting his request to be rejected even the slightest.

It was not until the ra'zac at the table started cackling in its twisted form of laughter that the silence was broken, before it, between its mad cackling, said, "I did not know that jestersss were paid well enough to get a fine ssship like this. You must be a really funny guy where you come from, but let me just tell you how we do thingsss: Firstly, no one is sssurrendering anything on the words of a lone jester. Sssecondly, in case you have not noticed, we have the leader of your little welcoming party here as our hossstage, and should you insult usss again in such a manner, I assure you that we will kill her", before it threw down the last of the contents of its drink into its beak, "so thank you for the drink, but we will be confiscating your ssship and everything on it now".

"I am surprised that you did not recognize it", Mercury said unconcerned by the very real threat as he motioned towards the empty crystal glass, "it is from your homeland after all, the palace's cellars even".

Loivissa saw Mercury's eyes flash for only a fraction of a second, something that went unnoticed by the ra'zac, but she knew that he had just done something that required magic. His eyes had always been the tell in such matters, as whenever he performed magic, they would literally light up like the gedwëy ignasia of the riders.

"Huh?", the ra'zac grunted, before everyone's attention was snapped towards the bow of the ship, where a door on the woodwork leading up to the upper deck of the bow had just opened. Out of the door, carrying a VERY large cloth bag across its back came…something.

It was unlike anything Loivissa had ever seen before, as it, or he, as it looked like it might be male, strolled across the deck and towards their little gathering.

His skin had a lighter more purple shade of the grey than the urgals of Alagaësia had, and on his head, there were two horns which curved slightly, but nothing in comparison with regular urgal rams. He had long elegant silvery hair that was tied into two braids that ran from his forehead and towards the back of his head, where they melted together into one.

His eyes seemed to be a vibrant shade of green and looked so very much like elven eyes in both form and shape. He was taller than any elf Loivissa had ever met, but a bit shorter than regular urgals, although his body looked almost like it had been sculpted to resemble the epitome of strength coupled with grace.

Behind her, Loivissa heard the ra'zac holding her hiss quietly at the intruder, which seemed to be the general response among the others as well. Clearly this…being….and the ra'zac did not get along very well, but the questions that bogged Loivissa the most were; why he was here, why had he not shown himself until now, and how in the world had Mercury managed to find and enlist this…being.

If the ra'zac knew the answers to these questions, then they were sure covering it up pretty convincingly, as more than a few had taken to alternating glances between Mercury and the humanoid grey-skin.

As the grey-skin reached their assembly, he looked at Mercury in what seemed to be him requesting confirmations, before he opened the top of the cloth bag, which Loivissa had completely forgotten about in light of the male holding it, before he turned it upside down.

Out of the bag and unto the deck rolled the severed heads of three ra'zac and two lethrblaka. Upon seeing the severed heads, all of the ra'zac on the ship immediately jumped back with a hiss, before clicking in their native tongue towards Mercury.

Loivissa had no doubt from their predatorily stances, which looked like they might all pounce on Mercury at any moment now, that what they had said had been the utmost of curses in their own language, although she could hardly fathom why, as none of the dragon rider killings of lethrblaka or ra'zac had ever provoked such a response.

"I take it that you recognize them then. That is good, it was after all a long trip and, although I had them magically preserved as best as I could, there was no guarantee that you would", Mercury calmly said, like there was not three ra'zac seemingly restraining themselves from pouncing on him at any moment, "oh, and for our guest here, I might need to elaborate. You see, my dear, these are the respective heads of the lethrblaka overlords that rule over all of their kin, and their direct offspring, which in turn rule their subjects' lands in their place, the royal family of their species, so to speak".

"How did you do thisss, human!", the ra'zac leader said with venom.

"Hmm? Oh well, you might say that I am now the one in control of both your capital island and the isles surrounding it. All it really took was a sufficiently powerful army and navy provided by my allies, the dökkálfar, to invade and subjugate your lands and people", Mercury said calmly, while studying his fingernails, "I suppose that you now see why it would be in your best interest to simply surrender here in Alagaësia, seeing as you will not get any more supplies or reinforcement from there or any of your colonies, and seeing as you do not have enough ships to transport even a tenth of your army back, provided of course that I would not have you sunk them the moment you came within a thousand kilometres of the shore, which I will, then your army here cannot do anything to help back home either. So you see; surrender really is the only option left for you…and for the record; I. Am. Not. Human".

The ra'zac leader hardly gave Mercury enough time to complete his sentence, before it pounced on him with its beak and a screech, clearly intending on cutting his neck with its beak. Mercury, who seemed to have anticipated the reaction, merely ducked safely to the side of the attack, which caught the ra'zac by such surprise that it did not have time to stop its attack and instead was forced to ram its beak directly into the main mast, where it got stuck.

"Now now, did you really think that I would even consider having you come aboard without being absolutely sure that there was nothing at all that you could do to me?", Mercury scoffed at them, before his eyes lit like light bright lanterns shining for all to see.

It was at this moment that two simultaneous things happened. One was that out of the fog came six large bolts, like the ones used by the imperial navy in their ballistae weapons, which seemingly in slow-motion covered the space between them and two of the lethrblaka that had flown them here, where the bolts buried deep within them and made them plummet into the sea with terrible screeches being the last thing anyone ever heard from them.

The other thing was that from every door and every trapdoor on the ship, there suddenly burst forth dozens of heavily armoured grey-skins, _or is it dökkálfar?_, whom quickly surrounded the ra'zac with their pointed spears, swords, axes and readied bows.

"And did you really think that I would come alone, hmm?", Mercury scoffed at the ra'zac leader, who was still trying to free itself from the mast, "now, you have two choices, and I do not really care which one you take, but I guess that after news spreads to your army, then they will not exactly be inclined to continue fighting for you, and may in fact decide to turn on your entire kind. Number one: you may surrender to me now and have your mages send word to every fortification, naval and army group in Alagaësia and tell them to lay down their arms and surrender peacefully, naturally explaining why in the process to avoid them turning on you. Number two: you may all perish here, I will use the fleet that I have taken with me to take Feinster from you by force and will then send out the word for all to hear, before I will execute every last one who does not surrender. Choose wisely, your life, and possibly your entire species, hangs in the balance".

Loivissa almost could not believe what was happening, and yet it was so…Mercury…that she did not doubt it for one second. The friendly and polite start, Mercury slowly and subtly leading them up to the eventual climax, disguised under an exterior of being aloof and calm, until everyone was so utterly shocked that this seemingly unthreatening person was such a severe threat that no one could have possibly seen it coming.

_Like a puppeteer performing a puppet show_, Loivissa realized, _the boarding, the wine offering, the cue to only reveal his trump card at the right moment, even the seating in front of the mast seems to have been planned in advance, but what purpose was I supposed to have here, and why has he not even once made eye-contact with me yet?_

Her musings were cut short when the ra'zac finally freed its beak from the mast and looked upon Mercury with such venom that had it been actual venom, half of Alagaësia might have died from it, before it begrudgingly said, "fine, you win! **On behalf of the Ra'zac Empire, by my right as leader of the Alagaësian expeditionary force, I surrender**".

"Excellent, I knew that you would see wisdom eventually", Mercury replied seemingly cheerfully, "now, I will of course need you to free all of your prisoners and vacate the keep in Feinster during my stay here. I will let the Alagaësians decide how and in what way your army will rebuild these lands, but you have my word that no one will be harmed and that you will be allowed to return home after you are done, although with five years working here being the maximum allotted time...oh, and before I forget, you may start with releasing that girl over there, before you all must depart this ship".

The ra'zac grumblingly did as they were told and released Loivissa's hands from her bindings, although she still had not gotten over how blasé Mercury had spoken about her, like they had never even met before, yet alone exchanged letters for nearly 8 decades.

Before leaving the ship, the ra'zac that had negotiated turned around and hissed at Mercury, "you are truly a messenger of death", which Loivissa guessed was either a compliment or an insult in their society.

Mercury merely laughed at it, before responding in what was barely above a whisper, "that is what the Alagaësians have called me for centuries, so why should I take insult in it from you?"

No further drama occurred with the ra'zac, whom swiftly departed for the city, and Loivissa was just about to say something when Mercury turned his head towards a smaller female grey-skin and said, "tell the others to continue according to plan and to keep staying hidden for now. They will be more wary of going against their leader's commands if they still do not know what exactly we have in store for them".

The female dipped her head, before she left. It was during this that the other grey-skins, dökkálfar, began going about what seemed to be their usual business, so Loivissa ventured closer to Mercury and was just about to say something, but was once again cut off by Mercury whispering, "not here, not now. Wait until the keep".

Loivissa then understood why he had acted like he did not knew her, he had not wanted her to be used against him as a bargaining tool, and since there were still lethrblaka escorting them into port, they had to keep up the ruse, but when they did not have to any longer…then Loivissa had quite a few questions that she wanted, needed, answers to.

* * *

/Mercury/status/on

...

/War/status/ended

/Mercury/status/off

And that is how to end a war with flair ;D

I have to admit that this scene has been changed almost beyond recognition from when I first envisioned it back before I even wrote the first chapter of the first story. Some parts have remained the same, while others have either been retconned or postponed as ideas for something later. Even up until I wrote out the general storyline for this chapter, I was in doubts of whether to pursue one line or another, as both were mutually exclusive, but in the end, I chose the one that seemed most plausible and plot relevant.


	9. A punch, a hug and a bluff

Mmmm, over, a war is. Clouded, the future now is.

* * *

**A punch, a hug and a bluff**

**Loivissa POV  
**Loivissa could hardly believe it. They had won! The Second Ra'zac War was finally over!

After the lead ra'zac had departed the ship, it had immediately returned back to the city to inform the rest of their surrender, and had next had her own men, who had been taken prisoners in the meantime, freed.

The news had already spread like wildfire, and people from all across the city came out to catch a glimpse of the living legend that had in one move ended the war. Children of all ages, as well as some of the old crags that still remembered the uproar that had occurred after the shade's defeat and Mercury's subsequent departure, all came out to play witness to this historic event.

Loivissa's own men had come to the docks as well, where they quickly began to exercise crowd control and prevent the enormous amount of people that were present, from trampling both themselves and Loivissa and Mercury when they arrived.

When Mercury's massive ship finally docked in the harbour, the crowd was ecstatic. Loivissa could hardly fault them for it, as she was still in awe of the sheer size and majestic feel of the ship. The lethrblaka escort had since departed to their secluded living quarters, something Loivissa thought would be wise, as it was unknown whether attempts at retributions would start up once the initial euphoria had settled.

Loivissa stood next to Mercury at the railings of the ship, as he looked out over the masses that had gathered around where the plank leading down from the ship had been set down. Loivissa could not say that she had known Mercury for very long, although she could say that she had known him during a difficult and frightening time, but she could not remember having ever seen him look frightened or even particularly pensive about anything.

Yet now, with the people lining the docks, he truly looked alarmed. It was not something for everyone to see, but if you looked closely, then you would notice that his hands were flexing from time to time, as if he wished that there was something in them, and he looked almost as if he was rooted to his spot at the railing.

It was kind of ironic to Loivissa that a man, whom had not so long ago stared the living embodiments of death right into their eyes and had not shown even one ounce of discomfort, was frightened by something as simple as the public masses.

Right before Loivissa could tell him that there was nothing to worry about, the same small female dökkálfar from earlier came up behind him and whispered something in his ear that made him close his eyes, take a deep breath and relax.

Loivissa had not taken notice of the female before, she had just seemed like another one in the bunch to her, but after witnessing this, Loivissa began to wonder who exactly she was.

She had the same grey-purple skin as the rest of her kin, but was a little bit shorter than the rest, being only about the height of Mercury, although Loivissa was ready to ascribe that to her youthful appearance. She wore dark-brown leather clothes that hugged her figure, but had her silver hair tied into a ponytail at the back with a red ribbon that had a butterfly, which looked to be made of some sort of rose-coloured metal with amethysts on its wings, atop the ribbon, and her eyes were as purple as the amethysts on the butterfly.

Clearly she was someone of importance, but just as Loivissa finished her observations, Mercury extended his arm out towards her and asked, "would you care to join me?"

"Take care of the ship while I am away, will you?", Mercury asked across his shoulder to the still unnamed female dökkálfar, who nodded in response, before he began to move down the plank with Loivissa in tow.

As they reached the final step of the plank and finally set foot on Alagaësian soil, the crowd erupted into cheers so loud that Loivissa had to force herself from covering her sensitive ears from the noise. Mercury seemed to notice this, as he called over Captain Lauran from the men performing crowd control in what seemed to the public to be a wish to speak with him, but was actually meant more as a way for Loivissa to silently whisper a protective spell around her ears without people's notice.

"Captain Lauran, son of Lorgen, sir, my lady and my lord", the captain saluted as he approached the two.

"Introductions might be unnecessary, but I am Mercury Iridium", Mercury replied seemingly jovially, "I would have asked as to whom you might serve, but I can now guess that you a subject of Lady Loivissa's".

"He led the men that accompanied me down here most excellently", Loivissa supplied, which seemed to provoke a very small blush from the captain, before he responded that he was only doing his duty.

"I see, then would you like to escort us a little further?", Mercury requested politely.

"It would be an honour as well as our duty to protect you and our lady", Captain Lauran replied and saluted, but before he walked away, Loivissa managed to ask him something that had been weighing on her heart since seeing them here, "captain…how many died…and where is Adûn?"

The captain looked at her sadly and said, "we were lucky. The fighting had not yet intensified when we surrendered, so relatively few were lost, but combined with the losses in the forest, the current death toll has been estimated to be around a third of the men that set out from Nolondil".

"I see…", Loivissa said saddened at the loss of life that now seemed pointless to her, "…and Adûn?"

"Last we saw him, he was being chained to the spot, but I overhead some say that they were working to free him when we ourselves were released", the captain replied, but before he could say anything else, a familiar roar shook the air as a sea-blue dragon rose from behind the city buildings.

A landing pad was surprisingly quickly cleared for him. Despite their curiosity and wish to see and touch a dragon, no one seemed to want to risk being crushed by one.

When Adûn landed, the ground shook from it, as he, in his eager to reunite with Loivissa, had forgone to ease his landing and had instead nearly crashed. Loivissa looked back at Mercury, whose arm she was still holding, and somehow managed to convey her wordless request to him.

"It is alright, I will be fine. Go, be with your dragon", Mercury said as he released his arm from her hold, "I will have someone waiting outside the keep to escort you when you wish to talk".

And just like that, Loivissa bounded over to Adûn, where they enveloped each other completely both mentally and physically. Despite their separation having only lasted for a few short hours at the most, they both felt like it had been an eternity.

Just before she leapt unto his now saddle-less back and they took off towards the sky, Loivissa heard Mercury mutter something almost unintelligible and clearly not meant for anyone else, "back to the crowds then. Remember zur urz nac fatul".

What that meant, she had no idea, but for the moment, she let it slide as Adûn and her began soaring the winds above Feinster. During their time, they exchanged memories and feelings without words. Adûn was particularly curious about what had happened out at sea that could have ended the war so abruptly.

More than once, they flew out towards the place where the negotiations had taken place, but strangely enough, the fog had not lifted since then. It was particularly strange since it was now well past midday, but when Loivissa remembered Mercury telling the young female dökkálfar to stick to the plan and have the others remain hidden, she found an explanation for the still visible fog.

Although, if this fog indeed was magically created, then it would need a vast amount of energy to sustain it, and the mage doing the deed would have to be very strong-willed to be able to continue accessing his magic over such a long period of time.

Adding this to her already growing pile of questions that she intended to get the answers out from Mercury, Loivissa and Adûn finally began circling back towards the city, where they found one of Loivissa's own men standing at attention outside the keep.

Despite being used to Adûn's presence from having been a guard at Nolondil and trekking across The Spine with him for the last month, the man still jumped as a scared rabbit when Adûn suddenly and without warning landed beside him.

"My- my la- my lady, I have been asked to show you the way", the frightened man stammered.

"Lead the way then", Loivissa replied with a smile that seemed to put the man at ease.

Adûn was forced to remain outside because of his size, but they still kept their mental contact intact, as Loivissa was navigated through the many halls, doorways and up through many spiral stairways, until she was sure that she had to be at the top of the highest tower that the keep had.

Finally the man stopped in front of a door, which had another two of her men guarding it, before she was gestured inside alone. The inside was the old throne room of Feinster, which still had the frescos of her mother's defeat of the shade Varaug that happened in this very same room, painted clearly on the walls.

Mercury was alone in here, having seemingly been in the midst of studying one of the frescos when Loivissa entered. His head now sported a flower crown consisting of white magnolias, blue forget-me-nots and purple lilacs, which drew Loivissa's attention immediately upon seeing it.

"A gift from a small girl on my way here", Mercury explained, "I do not think that it suits me however. Perhaps Naina will like it better", before he took it off of his head and set it down on the seat of the throne.

"Has the room been warded from listeners?", Loivissa questioned immediately after he had set the flower crown down.

"No, not yet, could you do it?", Mercury requested.

Loivissa immediately set to work on warding the room, during which she also severed her connection with Adûn. She could always tell him about it later, but she needed to have her head free for the moment, which he seemed to understand, as he withdrew without any sort of objections.

Once she had finished securing the room from listeners in every way that she knew how to, Loivissa marched straight up to Mercury, where she punched him in the face, hard.

Mercury barely had time to stagger, before she enveloped him in a very un-elfish hug. Strangely enough, Mercury seemed less unsure of what to do with her punching him than with her hugging him, but after a few moments of awkward tension from him, he seemed to loosen up a little and managed to pat her back twice in an unsure gesture.

"Now, is it true? What you said about the ra'zac's homeland?", Loivissa questioned as she released Mercury from the hug.

"Some of it is", Mercury answered warily while looking out the window, "the parts about taking The Capital and killing their leaders, as well as where the army came from, but the fighting is still going on back there".

"You are still the same!", Loivissa accused, suddenly letting the anger inside of her be the dominant force, "did you learn nothing from the last time?!"

"I am not! And I did!", Mercury shouted back in a rare display of emotion, before he reeled them back inside, "but I know that nothing can be accomplished by just means and truth and honesty alone. Did you want to continue this war?! You asked ME to stop it! Sure, you never actually wrote it, but what else could you have meant by writing all that? Have I not delivered what you wanted? Is the war not over?"

"But at what cost?", Loivissa asked saddened, "you dragged another people into a war that had nothing to do with them. How did you expect me to react?"

"Do NOT presume to know everything that has happened!", Mercury snarled, "this is exactly why I never liked the riders in the first place. I thought that you might be different, that the same things would not begin to affect you, but clearly I was wrong".

"Different? What things?", Loivissa asked shocked.

"Heh, I suppose that you would never notice, none of you would", Mercury replied with a dry laugh, "all riders that I have ever met, without exception, have already, or would eventually turn out to look down on the rest. Believing that they themselves knew better about matters that they should have never interfered with because the power of the dragons was with them. Your father was quite good at doing this too, acting like a judge, high, mighty and without a single thought that his opinion was wrong. He did it quite a few times during the Rider War, acted without thought about how his actions might affect others, because he felt that it was the right path for him to take".

"What, what do you mean?", Loivissa demanded a little frightened.

"You probably already know that after rescuing your aunt Katrina from Helgrind, your father decided to stay back in the Empire. Do you want to know why he did that?", Mercury said, but did not allow her time to answer, "it was because he could not bring himself to kill one little butcher that had betrayed and murdered his friends for his own selfish wants. He allowed his personal feelings and memories to cloud his judgement and chose to stay behind to help him, eventually having him seek refuge for the rest of his life in Ellesméra".

"How is that wrong?", Loivissa questioned, "he chose to save a life instead of taking it. He chose not to act as judge, jury and executioner".

"Yes, that is right. For ONE man, he risked the entire Varden's existence. Everyone could have died if Murtagh had shown up, but luck follows the fool and Eragon was lucky, so he never truly understood the consequences of his actions", Mercury spat, "and do you want to know how I know of this? It is from Sloan, the butcher himself. I visited him once in Ellesméra during the Shadow War, where he told me his story, but the most atrocious thing that he told me, was that your father had used his very own True Name to bind him and prevent him from ever seeking out his daughter, yet he still chose once again to not consider his actions when he brought Katrina and Roran with him to Ellesméra before he left for the east. It was there that he restored Sloan's eyesight, so that he could lay eyes on his daughter for the last time in his entire life".

"But was that not a good thing?", Loivissa said confused, "he got to see his daughter happy again".

"Yes, for one time, and one time only", Mercury replied scathingly, "that one act of kindness would follow and torment that man until his death, something that your father never got to see. When I visited him, his entire world revolved around that one moment, always trying to remember it more clearly or recreate it somehow. Eragon, in his stupidity and kindness, convicted him guilty, sentenced him to a life worse than death and then executed the verdict with brutal efficiency, becoming judge, jury and executioner in all but his own mind".

Loivissa was shocked at hearing this, she had never thought an act of kindness could be turned around like that, but she somehow managed to persevere and make a counter, "how are you any different, and what does this have to do with you dragging another people into a war that is not their own?"

"I am different because I know the consequences of my actions", Mercury responded, "I knew, from the moment that I decided what to do, that countless lives would be lost in the process, but I decided to go ahead anyway, but do not mistake this for me saying that involving another people in a war that had nothing to do with them rests entirely on my shoulders. The dökkálfar have been terrorized by The Ra'zac Empire for generations upon generations. For centuries, the ra'zac have raided their entire southern coastline every year, so when I received word that most of the ra'zac fleet and regular army were entrenched in Alagaësia, it hardly took any convincing for them to agree to seize this one-time chance at finally getting revenge and stopping the raids. So you see, you accusing me of involving someone else in a war that has nothing to do with them, is entirely your personal opinion without any basis in truth or facts. You condemned my actions without fully understanding what you were talking about".

"You could have just told me that to begin with", Loivissa grumbled, "there was no reason to involve father or the others in this".

"And what would you have learned then, hm?", Mercury questioned more softly, before he moved to the window and gazed outside towards the sea.

"I guess you still do try to teach me things, even though I stopped being your apprentice many decades ago", Loivissa responded with a soft laugh, before she joined him at the window, "so could you tell me what is really going on, and why you wanted to have me come here?"

"I never actually wanted you to be here until I had finished securing the peace", Mercury admitted, "you have no idea how surprised I was when I saw you as a captive of the ra'zac aboard my ship".

"Then why did you send me your ring?", Loivissa asked and drew forth the ring from one of her inner pockets, "I thought it was to persuade the dwarves to lend me their vote to allow me to go".

"How ironic", Mercury mused with a dry laugh, "I sent it to you as an aid in case you needed help in a desperate situation, not to put you in one. It is filled to the brim with energy, in case you had not noticed, more than a century's worth of excess energy to be exact. I would have sent word for you once I arrived here. I was allowed three weeks in Alagaësia and figured that you would be able to make the journey well within the first week or so".

"Allowed?", Loivissa piped up, momentarily pushing her curiosity about why Mercury would not have needed that energy for himself if he knew that he was going to war to the back of her mind.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that, did I not?", Mercury responded, "I am not actually in charge of the army invading the ra'zac homeland, but am more like a mercenary in their ranks. Part of the reason why they even dared to attempt this was because I promised them that if they allowed me to return back to Alagaësia with the heads of the ra'zac overlords, then I could guarantee that no reinforcements would come from here".

"So you have not taken complete control over the ra'zac homeland then?", Loivissa questioned, "and the fleet that you brought with you?"

"No, when I left, we were only in control of the capital island and were still fighting over the control of the main eastern isle", Mercury admitted, "the fleet with me, if you can even call it that, consists of my own ship and the three other vessels that I usually have command over".

"Meaning that this was all a bluff", Loivissa surmised, "if the ra'zac had refused you and decided to try and make it back, they would have".

"Deception is a powerful tool", Mercury commented, "making your enemies give up in fear without ever having to draw a single weapon has to be the greatest victory that there can ever be".

"Why am I not surprised anymore?", Loivissa asked jokingly, "could you tell me about the dökkálfar? I am curious towards some of their traits".

"Not half as curious as I was when I first met them, I bet", Mercury joked, "but alright, I suppose I should start from the beginning then. You know how the ancient texts say that the elves fled their homeland of Alalëa because of some unexplained magical catastrophe, followed by the urgals three centuries later?"

"Yes, every elven child is taught that", Loivissa replied.

"Yeah, every elven child is taught nothing but lies and deceit", Mercury said grimly while leaning out the window and continuing to watch the sea, "the so-called 'catastrophe' was what you saw on my ship, the dökkálfar. The dökkálfar were first created when an elven male and a female urgalgra fell in love and decided to have a child. Since normal conception was impossible for two such different races, the couple resorted to magically combine their traits into a child that would grow within its mother's womb.

When the child was born, some called it a miracle, others, an abomination, but the child lived nonetheless. Soon others followed it, both from other urgalgra and elven couples, as well as from the children that since grew up themselves. In a few generations, a new fully populated race had been formed from the combined traits of urgalgra and elves. They inherited much of the strength and imposing figure that the urgalgra are famous for, but also received the natural aptitude of magic, long life and culture of the elves. Even before the dragons changed the elves, they were still quite adept at such things and could live for longer periods of life than any humans, which has given the dökkálfar an average lifespan of approximately 150 years.

For a time, there was peace, but the voices within the elven government that scorned the dökkálfar and called them abominations, grew louder and louder until they one day had most of the elves convinced. War broke out between the elves and the dökkálfar, but the dökkálfar were still good friends with the urgalgra at the time, so with their aid, they eventually won the war.

Afterwards, the elves were forced to leave Alalëa, although a few that had not been convinced by the others were allowed to stay. They eventually landed upon the shores of Alagaësia, and you know the rest from there".

"What about the urgals then?", Loivissa wanted Mercury to finish the story.

"The urgalgra? What happened is what has always happened with them", Mercury continued, "they eventually needed to prove their strength in order to be allowed to mate, so war inevitably broke out again, only this time was far different from earlier wars. The elven-urgalgra wars had always been fairly even at the time. What the urgalgra lacked in magic skills and ingenuity, they countered with strength and battle-skills.

This time however, their opponents were not the feeble elves of the time, but someone almost as strong as they themselves were, and who surpassed them in all the old elven traits as well. It was a short but decisive war, and the urgalgra were afterwards exiled as well. Now, the dökkálfar are all that remain on Alalëa".

"Why was no one ever told of this?", Loivissa questioned confused.

"Do you honestly believe that the elves that fled, the very same ones that had scorned and cursed the dökkálfar because of nothing more than their own views on what perfection should look like, would allow someone to know how they lost to such an inferior race?", Mercury said harshly, "any truth of what really happened was burned and replaced by a vague story of a magical disaster that made them feel better than what really happened".

"I guess not, but then perhaps we should-", Loivissa started to say, but was interrupted by someone furiously knocking at the door.

Mercury made a beeline for the door, where he, after opening it, found that very same short female dökkálfar standing outside, holding a scroll in one hand and was just about to knock Mercury's head in with the other, before she stopped herself.

She spoke a strange tongue to Mercury, which he answered her in, before she gave him the scroll. Mercury quickly tore it open and read it at a lightning pace, before he gave her the scroll back and told her something in the strange tongue, before she departed as fast as she had come.

"What did she want?", Loivissa asked curiously.

"I leave at first light tomorrow", Mercury said sullenly, "I am sorry that I have to cut our reunion this short, but at least I got to see you again. I would not have, had you done as I planned".

And just like that, he left her there, alone in the highest room of the highest tower.

* * *

The headline of this one always makes me think of a joke. A punch, a hug and a bluff walk into a bar...

On a slightly different note; misdirection, miscommunication and a bluff the size of Everest; did you really expect anything else from Mercury? Some certainly did not.

Oh, and what did you think of my take on what forced the elves and urgals to flee Alalëa? CP never really explained anything about the disaster so I had pretty free reign to do as I liked.


	10. You are not getting away that easily

It is Before Friday Thursday and I am finally back from vacation with my family, which means that I can actually start writing more than the two measly chapters a week that I have these last two weeks. Funny how vacation means that there is no time for personal indulgences...

Anyway, enjoy the last chapter of Alagaësia as you know it.

* * *

**You are not getting away that easily**

**Loivissa POV  
**_He is leaving again?_, Loivissa thought dumbfounded, _leaving so soon after returning?_

Mercury had left her not even a few minutes ago because of some unknown message. It was not how this had been supposed to turn out. Granted, Loivissa had not really made any plans for what was to happen after she had brought Mercury back north.

She had had no idea that he would have ended the war so swiftly, so her first priority had been to get him to safety, and then…what? It was something that Loivissa only just realized now; she had not even given a single thought to what would happen afterwards, but had likely subconsciously just waited for someone to tell her what to do afterwards, that someone most likely being Mercury.

…And now he was leaving again, just like last time, except that this time, she was not confined to a bed and had no intention of letting him get away that easily.

With that single-minded determination, Loivissa stormed out of the room, but found that despite the fact that Mercury had not left long ago, and that there were still people mulling about in front of the keep, he was nowhere to be found.

"Where is Mercury?", she asked one of her nearby guards that had taken up the post as a temporary city guard at the gates until everything calmed down.

"I thought that he was with you?", the confused guard said.

"But he left a few minutes ago, you must have seen him exit here?", Loivissa continued.

"I am afraid not, my lady. The only ones we have seen through here were a young couple in brown cloaks", the guard answered, "should I initiate a search for him?"

"No, it does not matter. I think that I might know where he has gone", Loivissa rejected the offer and then proceeded to try and push her way out of the crowd.

Doing so proved to be more difficult than she had imagined, especially after someone recognized her as the same woman that had accompanied Mercury down the ship. In the end, it took Captain Lauran and a few of her guards to get people to keep their distance and let her pass.

When she finally arrived at the docks, the sun was already setting. The dökkálfar seemed to be hard at work carrying caskets and barrels up the plank to the ship. Most of the cargo looked to be either food or materials that could be used to repair a ship in an emergency, so Loivissa guessed that they were preparing for their departure already.

The plank up to the ship was guarded by a pair of dökkálfar with longswords tucked into their brown leather belts, but which were otherwise dressed mostly in plain civilian clothes consisting of a couple of cream-coloured tunics and black leather pants.

Quickly deciding that there was only one way to go from there; forward, Loivissa approached the two guards at the plank as neutrally as possible. When she came within a few metres distance from them, their hands automatically snapped to the hilts of the swords, but other than that, they remained calm and unmoving.

"Let me pass, I need to see Mercury", Loivissa said to them when she arrived.

They looked to be confused for a moment, before the one on the left said something in that same guttural tongue that Mercury and that female had used when they had conversed earlier.

When they noticed her equally confused expression, the one on the right tried the Ancient language, "**Do you understand me?**"

"**Yes!**", Loivissa responded, happy that they had found some middle ground, "**I was looking for Mercury, the one with silver eyes that sort of resembles my people in body**", better to be certain that they knew who she was referring to.

"**We know the lieutenant commander**", the one on the left said, "**he told us that he was not to be disturbed**".

"**He wished to speak to me**", Loivissa said, and although it was not an actual lie, it was not the complete truth either. He had wished to speak to her earlier, but they did not need to know that that was what Loivissa was referencing to.

"**I think that I recognize her from before. She was that prisoner that the ra'zac brought aboard**", the one on the right contributed.

"**Hmm, it seems that everything is in order then**", the one on the left said and let her pass.

It was almost too easy getting aboard, but that was one of the things that she remembered the best from her previous journey with Mercury; people in general seemed to put too much trust into the Ancient language's inability to lie to even begin considering deceit.

Not really knowing what way to go from there, Loivissa did the only thing that she could think of: ask the guards from earlier for help, "**excuse me again, but I do not know the layout of this ship, so where exactly can I find Mercury?**"

"**His quarters are through the first door on the right at the boundary between the stern and the main deck**", one of the guards replied back with a helping hand pointing in the right direction.

Loivissa thanked them again and continued on her way. When she reached the door, she found it guarded by another two guards, but after relaying the same half-truth again, as well as the fact that the guards at the plank had shown her the way, she was allowed to enter.

Just on the other side of the door, there was a partition blocking the view further inside. No one seemed to have noticed the door open or close, as Loivissa did not detect a single discrepancy in the speech further inside.

She had no idea what was being said, as the same guttural language was being used again, but she did recognize one of the voices as Mercury's. Not really knowing whether she should announce her presence, and what reason she should say she had for sneaking inside, Loivissa chose to wait on this side of the partition.

Since she could not understand what was said, it was not the same as eavesdropping, at least not in her own mind. During her wait, she thought that she was able to sum up the different voices to three besides Mercury's, and more than once, one or more of these three had been raised, which had quickly been followed by others, including Mercury.

Clearly there was some sort of disagreement between them, but without further information, Loivissa had no idea what it was about. She was just about to come out of her not-hiding, when Mercury's voice suddenly switched to the Ancient language, "**I keep telling you that we do not have enough men for that. We cannot pull Kilgharrah out of The Capital, because we need him there in case the lethrblaka decide to try to retake the city, and if they do, then everything is lost, and without him to support us, we won't make it through that way without risking if not all then at least half of our ships**".

"**But if we were to go through the northern channel, then we would add at least an extra week to our voyage because of the maelstrom**", the same raised voice from before argued back, "**the Supreme Commander told us to get there as quickly as possible, or all might be lost anyway**".

The fact that they had reverted to argue in the Ancient language signified to Loivissa that both sides wanted to emphasize their points, but it also provided her with a way to figure out what was really going on.

"**We are no good to them dead either**", a third voice piped in. Was it just her or did everyone of this crew know the Ancient language fluently?

"**It would not have been a problem if the last Supreme Commander had not botched his amphibious assault on Atkins. Now look where it has gotten us; we do not even have the manpower to secure the southern coastline from the feeble remnants of their fleet anymore**", a fourth one said clearly irritated.

"**It is no use blaming the dead**", the third voice argued, "**he and his command staff all perished during that assault, and it is only thanks to the swift actions of the current one that some of the men are still alive and recuperating in Hydronium**".

"**I know, I know. Still, it is a shame. I was planning on using these three weeks to see what happened to the Ancestors afterwards**", the fourth one admitted.

Since much of the later bits of the conversation had not needed to be emphasized by the Ancient language's boundaries, it seemed to Loivissa that everyone was so fluent in both languages that they had not noticed the shift.

"**Keep your vacation plans to yourself. We have a decision to make**", Mercury scolded the fourth voice, "**you are all capable captains of your own ships, and I asked you here to seek your advice on how to approach this, but so far we have not been able to come up with anything. The safer northern route would potentially take too long, especially with things as unsteady as they are now, where we need every able-bodied warrior the most, but the faster southern route runs straight past Atkins, which could potentially lead to a naval combat that we cannot win without more ships or Kilgharrah aiding us. I will not have this turn into another battle of Dread! I want everyone to forget about the old plans and try to think of something new, no matter how crazy it might be**".

Before Loivissa had time to reconsider her actions, she practically burst through the partition that had previously hidden her from view. The moment she did this was also the moment where she caught her first glimpse of the other occupants of the room.

There was Mercury, who was now dressed in an inconspicuous brown cloak with its hood down and had a pair of regular leggings and a tunic underneath. Then there were three male dökkálfar, all dressed in chainmail with leather belts that had swords, which were already moving out of their sheaths, around their midriffs. And then there was the same shorter female from earlier, who was dressed the same as before, but had apparently not said anything during the meeting, although she already had a dagger well out of the sheath on her left arm that Loivissa had failed to spot earlier because of its identical colour to the clothes underneath it.

All of them were standing around a desk at the end of the room that had a giant map spread out over it. There was a bed located at the left side of the room, while the desk, which Loivissa guessed to be Mercury's usual work-desk, was situated in the centre of it. The walls were decorated with many things, mostly strange and foreign looking ones, which Loivissa would have loved to question Mercury about at any other time.

"**Wait!**", Mercury commanded with his right hand raised in a sign for them to stop their actions, which might have been just in time, as most already seemed to have been ready to jump her.

"Loivissa, how did you get in here?", Mercury asked slowly, as if restraining himself, in the human tongue. Apparently, he thought it best not to include the others in their conversation until he had decided what to do.

"I told them that you had wanted to speak to me", Loivissa answered.

"I see that you at least remembered that bit well enough", Mercury sighed, apparently already guessing how exactly she got in, "remind me to teach it to the guards one day. Now, tell me why you came in here and why you felt the need to bust through a perfectly good partition".

"I overheard that you had a dilemma that required a dragon's touch, so I decided to offer you Adûn's and I's help", Loivissa answered. She had not actually gained Adûn consensus to this yet, but she was sure that he would either agree or at least follow after her.

"No", Mercury shot down her proposal with one word.

"No? What do you mean, no?", Loivissa argued, "you said yourself that you needed a dragon to take the shorter route safely, and that Kilgharrah was stuck in some capital, so I am offering you a solution to your problems".

"No, I do not want you to get involved in this war", Mercury said sternly, "it has nothing to do with you, and you would be far better off staying here in Alagaësia, where there is peace".

"Neither you nor the dökkálfar would be in this war either, if I had not written to you, so I feel responsible for what happens", Loivissa argued, "I cannot sit idly by, while knowing what I know".

"Listen, from your letters, I was able to surmise that you never participated in any campaigns or sieges", Mercury started to say, but was cut off by Loivissa saying, "I fought many battles against the ra'zac during the war, so do not presume to think of me as some untested weak human female".

"That was not what I was about to say", Mercury said sternly, "what I meant was that there is a major difference between fighting battles and fighting wars. When fighting a war, you sometimes have to make hard decisions that may seem immoral to everyone around you, and you will quite certainly see thousands upon thousands of bodies, some killed by your own hand and some by your enemies. Are you sure that you want to follow this path?"

"It is my duty to-", Loivissa started to say but was hastily caught off by Mercury angrily saying, "No! No duties! If I am to even consider bringing you along, I need to know that YOU chose this, not some sense of duty to an order that could not care less about what happens outside of Alagaësia. I can promise you nothing more than blood and tears, and in exchange for this, you will be required to follow every order given to you, as well as make sure that Adûn follows them, no matter what your personal opinion on the order might be. Too many lives could all too easily be lost if you suddenly decide to falter. Are you sure that you still want to do this?"

Loivissa took a moment to think this one over. Could she really do this?

...Yes! Yes, she had to. There was no other way for her to atone for all the deaths that she had inadvertently caused. The least she could do was to try and end the war as quickly and decisively as possible.

"**I will, as long as they come from you**", she bound herself in the Ancient language.

"Welcome aboard then", Mercury acknowledged her with a small dip of his head, before switching to the Ancient language again, "**the Lady Loivissa and her dragon are coming with us to help us. This means that we take the southern route. Any disagreements?**", when there were none, he continued, "**good, then you are all dismissed. I will have Naina send a rendezvous point to the other ships in your absence, so that we can redistribute the supplies for the trip**".

All of the male dökkálfar punched their left chest with their right fists, which Mercury and…Naina?...responded with the same gesture, before the three departed the cabin.

"Naina, could you be a dear and get some quarters for our new comrade?", Mercury said to the female dökkálfar, whose name apparently was Naina, before he turned to Loivissa and said, "you have until morning to sort out any and all affairs in Alagaësia".

"Uhm, I am afraid that there are no more partitioned rooms available", Naina said, "but if she does not mind, then I suppose that I have some room in my quarters".

"I do not mind", Loivissa quickly said. Compared to sharing a room with a bunch of sleeping males, the former option was pretty much luxury.

Naina looked back at Mercury for confirmation, to which he only shrugged in a way that said that it was her choice, before she left the room with Loivissa in tow, but without doing the strange thing that the others had done.

"You speak the common tongue of Alagaësia?", Loivissa questioned on the way there.

"Yes, Mercury taught me many years ago", Naina replied.

Okay, that was strange. Why would Mercury have taught her something like that without this journey in mind?...and what did she mean by many years ago?

"What was that punch-to-the-chest-thing?", Loivissa tried to change the subject.

"That is my people's way of saying farewell politely", Naina responded simply, "we use it even when we will see the same person later the very same day".

"Then why did you not do it when you left?", Loivissa continued.

"It is only meant as a polite formality, and therefore it is not considered common practice among people in close relationships, be they friends, family or something else", Naina replied curtly, before stopping at a wooden door, "this is my room. I will see whether I can have a cot or bed procured in Feinster, but know that after tonight, everything on the left side will be mine and therefore not something that you are allowed to touch without my permission".

"Yes, I understand. Thank you very much for allowing me to share your room", Loivissa politely said, wondering whether she had struck a nerve or something.

**Later that evening**  
Loivissa had spent the entire evening preparing for her sudden rush-trip. Adûn had taken the news that they would be leaving…well enough…all things considered, although he had made a not-so-friendly remark to Mercury that if he ever suspected foul play on Mercury's part, then he would grab her on the spot and fly her away, with Mercury's head preferably between his teeth.

Mercury on his part had merely cocked an eyebrow in response, before asking whether Adûn was finished. Somehow it seemed to be a much more potent response than any direct answer Loivissa could think of.

After that, Loivissa had begun the tenacious ordeal that was getting her prepared to leave. It was not so much material possessions, as almost everything of value to her was either safe in Nolondil or on her person, but rather the administrative work needed for her trip.

Who would have known that something that seemed as simple as just leaving for possible a year or two could demand so much work? Firstly, she had had to tell the men with her what to do afterwards, as well as spend an entire hour explaining that no, none of them could come with her.

It was made all the more difficult by her being forbidden by Mercury from even mentioning the war that she was going to, let alone the dire situation that they seemed to be currently in, to anyone.

In fact, Mercury had already begun circulating rumours that he was only leaving because he wanted to visit the northern coastline of Alagaësia, which would hopefully prevent the ra'zac from catching on for a few weeks or so, which was all the time needed for any hope of regrouping their army to have vanished.

Next, she had written a letter to the duke in Gilead, her technical liege, explaining to him that she would be taking a few years vacation, but assuring him that any and all affairs concerning Eregion would be settled by her appointed substitute.

Then she had had to scry her parents to get their approval for leaving, as she was still a dragon rider under their jurisdiction. They had not taken the news well, especially not her father after hearing that she would be accompanying Mercury on her trip. It could also have had something to do with the fact that she could not tell them exactly why it was that she was leaving so soon after the war had ended, the news had apparently already reached them by then.

There had been logical arguments, like that now that the Second Ra'zac War was over, she was not desperately needed here, but in the end, she had had to resort to threatening to quit the order if they would not grant her this one vacation after her many years of service, although both parties seemed to know that no one would fight so vehemently over a vacation.

Now the real tough one awaited her; calling home to tell her brother and niece about it.

"Hello brother", Loivissa said when her brother's image came into view after having had a very startled man go get him.

"Sister, how are you?", her brother questioned, "rumours have begun to spread that the war is over?"

"Yeah, that is partly why I am calling you", Loivissa answered and scratched the back of her head, "you see, it kind of is".

"That is great!", he answered with the biggest smile that Loivissa had seen on him since Celiste had died, making this next bit more difficult for her, "but why do you look so pensive then?"

"Could you wake Helen, there is something that I need to tell the both of you", Loivissa avoided his question.

"She is sleeping now. Can it not wait until tomorrow?", her brother said slightly confused.

"No, I am afraid that it has to be now", Loivissa answered.

"Alright, I will go wake her up then", her brother sighed and walked away from the mirror, but Loivissa knew her brother well enough to know that he was quite nervous about what she might say that could not wait until morning.

Not fifteen minutes later, her brother returned into sight with a sleepy-eyed Helen in tow. Helen looked confused as to why she was there, but upon seeing Loivissa's image in the mirror, she immediately perked up, jumping forward and shouting, "auntie!"

"Hi Helen", Loivissa answered back somewhat more cheerful than she felt right now, "do you still have that bracelet that I gave you to hold on to?"

"Yes, I have it right here", Helen answered and showed her right wrist with the bracelet hanging loosely from it.

"I am afraid that I am going to have to ask you to keep that safe for me for a little longer than we agreed, can you do that?", Loivissa asked pensively.

"Why?", Helen asked, having already sensed that something was not right.

"I have some work to do, so I have to go away for a while", Loivissa answered, "it may take more than a year before I can return again".

"But you promised to come back next month!", Helen protested, "you promised!"

"I am sorry about not being able to keep my promise", Loivissa said sadly, "but I am afraid that this is something that I have to do, so could you please promise me to keep it safe until then?"

"Fine! But you better come back, or I will not forgive you", Helen eventually relented after a little while had gone by.

"I promise that I will try my best to do so", Loivissa answered while laying her palm on the mirror on her side, which was soon mirrored by Helen on their side, "but for now, it is time for bed for you, or else you will never get to grow up".

"I will too", Helen pouted playfully, before she said her goodbyes and left the room, leaving only her brother and herself in it.

"So why do you have to leave?", her brother asked completely serious.

"I cannot tell", Loivissa answered, clearly remembering Mercury saying that not even her closest family could be allowed to know for now.

"Where are you going?", Evandar continued.

"I cannot tell", Loivissa repeated.

"Has this got anything to do with Mercury?", Evandar began getting irritated at her lack of answers.

"Yes", Loivissa finally gave an answer.

"Did he make you to do this?", her brother asked suspicious.

"No, he initially did not want me to come", Loivissa denied a little insulted.

"But he is the one that prevents you from telling us about it", her brother stated, not asked, before continuing, "can you at least promise me that you will be safe?"

"No", Loivissa denied.

"I do not like this one bit", her brother said angrily, "are you at least bringing the men with you?"

"No, it will only be me and Adûn", Loivissa said, before anticipating what was about to happen, "and nothing you are going to say will change my mind, so you might as well not say it. I would prefer that we parted on friendly terms".

Evandar grumbled silently for a little while, but otherwise remained quiet, until he finally said, "fine, but tell that person that if he as much as looks at you the wrong way or in any way brings harm to you, then there is nowhere where he can hide from my retribution".

"He already had Adûn tell him that earlier without batting an eye, but I will pass it along anyway", Loivissa said a little more cheerful, "oh, and could you tell Captain Tyke to hold down the fort until my return?"

"I will pass along the message", her brother grumbled, "may the stars watch over you, and please be careful".

"I will try", Loivissa promised, "and may good fortune rule over you", before they ended their scrying session.

Now she was finally ready to leave.

* * *

Before you even say anything, let me just say that yes, Loivissa's pledge in the Ancient language was not thought fully through, but she had been going on a rollercoaster of emotional turmoil at the time, not to mention the rush of the situation, so she was not exactly thinking completely clearly.

For those that thought that the dragon rider order, or Alagaësia in general, would follow Mercury to war, know that this is not going to happen. The war, for them at least, is considered over, since Mercury does not believe that he can afford anyone in on his bluff without risking it being revealed to the ra'zac army in Alagaësia.

Now that this is out of the way, the second act can finally be allowed to begin.


	11. The pack

As I told my niece last evening while building our campfire; the only true distinguishing feature of a decent campfire is that it cannot be put out by adding more wood.  
After which I told her the golden rule of threes when building a campfire;  
one wheelbarrow to start the fire,  
one wheelbarrow to build the fire,  
one wheelbarrow to keep the fire  
and in the heat bind it

I do not think that she got the reference, but then again, she is only seven.

Why am I telling you this, you may ask. Well, one reason could be that I am not crazy(I already told you; my mother had me tested), but another could be that I find parallels between some of my previous references and your discovery of them.

Enjoy!

* * *

**The pack**

**Loivissa POV  
**It had been an entire week since Loivissa had last set foot on Alagaësian soil and had set sail for unknown lands and a war that had been indirectly caused by her. Loivissa had been quite surprised when Mercury's ship, The Mirage, as he had apparently dubbed it long ago, had met up with the other three ships of his 'fleet'.

Two of them had been identical but smaller models of Mercury's own ship, although they were not painted like Mercury's navy-blue ship was and had six ballistae mounted on their decks, as opposed to the zero on Mercury's ship, while the third had unmistakeably been built in the Ra'zac Empire.

Mercury had since explained to her that since the Ra'zac Empire raided the entire southern coastline of Alalëa nearly on a yearly basis, the dökkálfar had never bothered, nor had the resources, to develop any ships more complicated than small shallow-watered easy-to-lift-further-inland fishing vessels, which was also part of the reason why the Ra'zac Empire kept raiding them, as it prevented them from developing into not a threat, but a nuisance at worst.

For the past five years however, the raids had not come, something that had been seen as both a blessing and a cause for concern, as it broke with tradition and made the dökkálfar fear that something more sinister might be underway.

So when Mercury had learned and later informed the dökkálfar of why exactly the raids no longer came, the wish to seize the chance, somewhat helped along by Mercury apparently cashing in a lot of favours that he had accumulated over the years, had risen above any fear of what might happen if they were to fail, but the question of how exactly they were going to cross the ocean in their small fishing boats had almost caused them to turn around again.

It had taken Mercury's remaining favours to convince the dökkálfar that, because of their urgency for haste, they should simply copy his own ship on a smaller scale, since the larger ship was not all that handy during naval battles, although a few were still made in the original size to act as transport vessels.

Entire forests that had stood for almost as long as anyone could remember had disappeared almost overnight due to the sudden need for timber that literally every carpenter had need of. Almost all of the dökkálfar's earlier craftsmen, merchants and whatnot had been redirected to mobilize and arm their exponentially growing army. Fishing boat captains were drafted in to either become captains of the new ships themselves or to learn whatever tricks they knew to others, merchant caravans were redirected to transport timber and ore from their sources towards where they were needed, smiths and tanners would no longer have time to fix the everyday workloads because of the need for weapons and armours and enormous hunting parties were formed to provide salted meat for the journey.

All in all, leading to the arming of a little fewer than 100.000 ground troops, as well as the building and manning of more than 400 warships and 50 transport ships, in a little less than six months.

It had been a true testament to what could be achieved if enough people really worked together with one goal in mind, but despite building all of these ships in such a short time, it had not made up for the fact that the dökkálfar simply did not have any naval battle experience, so, according to Mercury, the first month or so of naval battles had been kind of disastrous and their fleets had only been saved because they had taken the Ra'zac Empire completely by surprise and outnumbered them two to one.

The primary problem was that almost all of the captains, lieutenant commanders and commanders of the fleet had regarded their ships as nothing more than a way of getting their sailors from where they currently were and aboard the enemy's ships. Most had begun wizening up after the first few battles though, especially after the battle of Dread, which Mercury had only mentioned as being the turning point from their previous journey towards certain defeat.

Still, it did not entirely make up for the 150 ships lost in the initial battles, which had then prompted the dökkálfar, after Mercury's suggestion, according to himself, to commandeer any and all war-vessels that they could find, aka the approximately 100 surrendered Ra'zac Empire warships.

The dökkálfar's command system was still one that Loivissa was not quite comfortable with. At the top, the Supreme Commander ruled over all naval and ground warfare. Below him came the commanders, which were all either given an army or navy, so there were not a lot of those around, and below them came the lieutenant commanders, which ruled over either a 'fleet' or an army-group of between 500-1000 men, but then the two branches differed, because in the naval department, the captains came next and then the crew, but in the army, the only ones lower than lieutenant commanders were regulars.

Mercury had tried to explain that since the dökkálfar were not used to having large regular armies, and that they had certain rules about warfare among themselves, the amount of people in the command staff had tried not to be changed from tradition, except for the navy, where there was none, so they had simply upped the amount of people under each level's command.

In the time since boarding this ship, Loivissa had begun to develop the distinct impression that the entire crew was waiting to pounce on her, like wolves on an injured deer. It had started almost the day after they had left port, although, at the time, Loivissa had simply brushed it off as a figment of her imagination due to the completely different setting than she was used to.

Now however, she was fairly certain of it, and although no one actually said or did anything to hinder or harass her, there always seemed to be a spark in their eyes whenever they thought that she was not looking.

The fact that her new roommate was constantly being polite but curt did not help things either. Loivissa did not know exactly why she was like that, but she did know that she was not completely like that with the other crew members when she thought that Loivissa was not looking.

Loivissa would originally have asked Mercury about both of the problems, but she had hardly seen him since Feinster. He always seemed to be cooped up with some work or another in his quarters, and he had even had to ask Loivissa on more than one occasion to leave his room.

Lately, it seemed like the only one still willing to talk to her was Adûn, and he spent most of his day flying because he got seasick whenever he was on the deck for too long, not that Loivissa did not suffer the same problem, but hers had at least developed in a more routinely manner, as she only had to puke once in the morning and then after lunch.

Loivissa was beginning to reach the limit of what she could take, and she had no wish whatsoever to have this continue for the month and a half that the trip would take. That was why she had decided to get up early in the morning, before the sun had even risen, to go talk to Mercury.

She knew from what gossip that she had managed to overhear that Mercury apparently began work shortly before most of the crew even managed to get up to the communal breakfast, apparently his insomnia had not dissipated during the last eight decades, and that he did not eat breakfast with the rest of the crew, but had Naina bring him some, which they then ate together.

So Loivissa was hoping to catch him before he could begin work and therefore did not have an excuse to send her away, which was why she was up even before her roommate was, and why she had left a note on her desk explaining that Loivissa would take care of Mercury's breakfast today, so she could just relax this morning. Somehow, Loivissa doubted that her roommate would see it as a kindness, but Loivissa would rather have their non-existent relationship take a hit than continue this way for the remainder of their trip.

That was how Loivissa found herself with a food platter with fruits, bread, cheese, some honey, kitchenware, two plates, two cups, some hot tea and even an egg or two in one hand, while her other hand gave three short raps on Mercury's door.

A response in the guttural language of the dökkálfar, which, Loivissa had since learned from her roommate, was actually a dialect of the urgal language, and that all dökkálfar were taught both the Ancient and their own language from birth, echoed out the door, which Loivissa took as a sign that she could enter.

When she moved past the newly repaired partition, Loivissa saw something that seemed almost bizarre in its normalcy to her; Mercury was wearing a rock-grey tunic with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and normal brown leather pants, while holding a small hand-sized mirror in his left hand and a razor knife held just below his chin in the right.

_Well, this at least explains why he looks newly shaven every day, but why does he not just do it with magic like father?_, Loivissa mused at the oddity of it being much quicker and easier to do it that way.

It was only then that Mercury seemed to realize that it was indeed Loivissa that was in the room. The surprise made him momentarily slip and cut his chin, prompting it to bleed quite profusely in Loivissa's opinion, but again he surprised her by not simply healing it with magic, but rather take a red cloth lying nearby to stop it with.

"Sorry, I was expecting someone else", Mercury said while holding the cloth to the cut.

"I left her a note that I would take care of your breakfast today", Loivissa explained and set the platter on the desk, where two chairs already stood opposite of each other in preparation for the two people that would be eating, before she sat herself down in the one opposite of where Mercury would sit.

Mercury opened his mouth, as if to interject, but closed it again and sat down in his chair. He was still holding the cloth to his chin, Loivissa noticed and subsequently asked, "are you not going to tend to that?", while pointing at his cut.

Mercury barely had time to remove the cloth from his chin, before she reached over and healed it with a simple, "waíse heill", before quickly retracting her hand as if stung. Mercury felt at the area where the cut had been with his fingers, before he wiped the remaining blood traces away with the cloth and said, "thank you. Is it all gone?"

Upon her confirmation, he threw the cloth back in an arch to where he had picked it up, before he distributed the plates, kitchen wares and cups among them and started pouring tea in first her cup, then his own.

Only after Loivissa had moved some of the food to her plate, did Mercury begin moving something unto his own. It seemed kind of unnecessary to Loivissa since the plate was big enough for both of them to easily manoeuvre around it at the same time, but her questions were answered when Mercury explained a moment after, "I guess that seemed a bit strange, but it is actually nothing more than polite table manners for the dökkálfar to let the host pick his food first, or, in cases like this, let the one that brought the food pick first. Habits die hard after so long of living with them, I guess".

Loivissa simply nodded to that, before she started nibbling on the contents of her own plate, mostly varied fruits, although a slice of bread with honey had managed to sneak aboard. Their conversation died out after that, as they both seemed to be nibbling at the food without really eating it, as if waiting for the other to speak their mind first.

"I guess that you did not get up this early simply to eat in silence with me", Mercury managed to once again jump ahead to what Loivissa would have said if given a little more time.

"You could be right in that", Loivissa acceded, "when it comes down to it, I guess that I have lately begun feeling like a sheep among a pack of wolves, if you know what I mean?"

"I can guess", Mercury said thoughtful, "you think that they are looking hungrily at you, and that because Adûn is always away, and that I have not allocated much time to you, you have begun feeling all alone?"

"Something like that", Loivissa acknowledged, although it peeved her slightly how Mercury had known that it was exactly like that.

"I guess my plan backfired then", Mercury said dejected, and upon her confused and slightly hurt expression, he clarified, "I must admit that I have avoided seeing you as much as possible this last week, but it was actually because I thought that if you did not have someone familiar to cling to every day, then you would be more likely to bond with the crew by your own volition".

"Oh, so the looks were also part of this?", Loivissa questioned slightly relieved that it might all be over soon.

"No, I imagine that they are probably because you are an elf", Mercury said.

"Why does my race has anything to do with it?", Loivissa questioned outraged.

"Do not take it as an offense", Mercury quickly tried to defuse her, "what you need to understand is that among the dökkálfar, a different culture exists than yours. Their culture is based much upon a pecking order of a sort, although it is officially unofficial, so to speak. Whenever they meet in groups, whatever their craft might be, they will always seek to rank themselves among each other in accordance with their skill, although they do still adhere to the more established command structure. It is simply a pecking order within another pecking order that they try to sort during their free time, and they make absolutely sure that it will not disrupt their other duties".

"So it is like the urgals' trials of strength?", Loivissa asked, as she thought that she was beginning to understand what he meant.

"No, remember that, unlike the urgalgra, the official pecking order is not determined by these contests", Mercury shot down her assumption, "another way that their way differs from the urgalgra is that they do not simply compete in battles of strength, but also poetry, blacksmithing, debating and almost any other discipline or game. You could say that they like to compete against each other simply because it helps them figure out who is better and then try to learn from them.

Now, the reason for your particular interest to them is because you, as an elf, are considered to be an Ancestor, and since the ones currently living have never tested their mettle against one themselves, you should be able to understand their eagerness to do this".

"So I could come up against them in a poetry competition?", Loivissa asked a little confused at the seemingly innocent discipline and the looks that they were giving her.

"Oh no, they are warriors and consider you yourself a warrior, so they will want to test you in battle", Mercury explained.

"Then why have they not simply asked me to duel one of them?", Loivissa questioned.

"It is actually a kind of complicated situation for them", Mercury tried to explain, "you see, if someone takes someone else under their protection, as a parent, guardian, teacher, spouse or in some other way, this someone has the right to lift any and all challenges issued towards their charge upon themselves. Since the crew is unsure about your exact relationship to me, they have been hesitant to do anything".

"But I am not under your protection, am I?", Loivissa asked confused.

"No, but to them, our situation would definitely look strange, so they have naturally been hesitant so far", Mercury clarified, "but I guess that it would make things more smooth if we announced this on this very same day, providing of course that you can accept that you will probably be challenged shortly after".

"What are the rules?", Loivissa questioned before deciding what to do, "and do I have to accept the challenge?"

"You do not actually have to accept the challenge per se, but any decline will be considered equal to surrendering", Mercury clarified, "and as for the rules, there are technically none, but there is a code of conduct that would be a good idea to follow if you do not want to be considered as an outcast".

"What does this code say?", Loivissa asked slightly intrigued by the complex society that seemed to be unravelling before her.

Mercury looked thoughtful for a while, as if considering how to explain it, before he began, "it kind of varies from discipline to discipline, so I do not know it all. There will probably not be many dökkálfar that do so either, as they all originated separately from each other, but the parts about combat challenges generally can be summarized to this:

A challenge should at least be issued one entire day before the challenge is to commence. This is to give both parties time to prepare, although the time of the challenge can be altered if the challenged has some important work or family matter to attend to.

It is highly frowned upon when a challenger of high skill deliberately challenges someone that he knows has a much much lower skill level than himself, and it is similar frowned upon for the opposite to occur, as nobody wants to be challenged all the time by every new upstart.

All challenges in combat will be conducted by both parties holding back in the start. They will then both slowly ease up until they reach their normal level, where one might eventually surpass the other. This is done because the dökkálfar value skill and endurance equally in combat, so any warrior that only trains one will never be able to win, as the one that focuses on skill will tire before he can surpass the other, while the endurance focused one will quickly be outclassed".

Most of it seemed fairly logical to Loivissa, but the last part had her confused, "why do they have such rules for actually fighting? Would it not be better to let people fight in their own way?"

"It is actually a better system than the one you are used to", Mercury reasoned, "if you look at it in a battlefield kind of perspective, then it makes sense perfectly. The very skilled warrior without much endurance might best everyone in quick single-combat sparring, but would be next to useless after a short while on an actual battlefield, while the opposite is equally true, so an army of warriors with a balance between the two would always beat an army of one of the former".

"I guess so", Loivissa admitted, "should I be afraid then?"

"Not at all, although I would not take your opponent lightly either. I once heard that a duel between true masters could last for an entire day. They may have defeated the elves before, but that was before your people were changed by the dragons, so you should now have surpassed them in most of their old strengths, although only by a tiny amount in some.", Mercury answered, "you will be pitted against someone close to the middle to try and sort you out. You should be able to defeat him within two minutes, but you absolutely must remember not do that".

"Have you ever been challenged before?", Loivissa questioned intrigued. Something in the way that he talked about these things led her to believe that it was mostly from self-experience.

"Yeah, almost the moment that I managed to convince the first city that I came to that I was not there to pillage them, not that I could have all by myself anyway", Mercury answered with a faraway look, "I broke my opponent's right arm in three places within the first minute of the fight. Worst mistake that I could have possibly made, but I thought that he was not holding back either, so I did not figure that it would have connected. The others were not too happy about my breach of the code, so they challenged me to a new duel every day for three weeks, and although they adhered to the principle of waiting a day, they were able to go around it by simply being that many challengers. It was not until the second week that someone finally figured out that I was not aware of what I was doing wrong and took pity on me. Otherwise, I would have probably had to continue for another two weeks or so before they had kicked me out".

Somehow, Loivissa was able to picture the image perfectly inside her head, and she was currently very glad that she had Mercury to teach her these rules of conduct, instead of having to figure them out on her own as he had had to.

"And on this ship?", Loivissa questioned curious.

"Let us just say that I am neither the best warrior here nor the worst", Mercury answered, before he added something very quietly, "at least not THE worst", which Loivissa could perfectly understand given the dökkálfar's natural advantages over any human, which Mercury in her mind still had a body that was, and that Mercury in her experience had always preferred not to engage in direct melee without trying to end it as quickly as possible by whatever means necessary.

_I wonder how good the female is?_, Loivissa mused quietly, before another thought struck her that was inspired by her previous musings, "where does Naina lie within the pecking order?"

"Nowhere", Mercury simply answered, "she is under my protection and has been exempt from any challenges".

…_oh, but what would that make her to Mercury then?_ , Loivissa mused as she finished the last of her tea.

**Later the next day  
**The declaration had been made by Mercury the following midday, a challenger had appeared not an hour later and challenged Loivissa to a duel the next day, and so here she was, standing at the centre of the main deck with her opponent in front of her, while a large ring had been cleared for them by the spectators, which seemed to be virtually everyone on the ship.

Mercury had chosen to observe the happenings from the stern deck, with Naina, who was looking even more eagerly at the spectacle than most of the other dökkálfar, at his right shoulder.

Loivissa tore her eyes away from them and instead opted to study her opponent. He seemed a rather regular dökkálfar, or at least regular in accordance with the standards on this ship, with his tall and muscular but lean body, slightly curved horns, eyes a lighter shade of blue and silvery hair that was tied into the two-braided style that seemed to be the custom here.

His weapon of choice was a longsword that Loivissa would have deemed a two-hander for anyone but urgals and dökkálfar, which he held in one hand, while his other sported a round wooden shield with an iron edge and an iron cone sticking out in the middle of it.

Loivissa herself had opted to only use her one-handed rider sword, as she had never been comfortable with a shield in the other. Instead of the shield, she usually used her free hand to implement a few martial tricks that she had picked up during her previous travels with Mercury, but she would refrain from using those for this match for obvious reasons.

"**Are both the combatants ready**?", Mercury loudly asked, cancelling out the buzzing and betting that had run wild among the crowd until then. From what Loivissa had overheard, a few select people would get their money more than quadrupled if she won.

A nod from both of them was all Mercury needed to see before he said, "**then let the match begin!**"

Loivissa had to refrain herself from her usual tactic of immediately rushing her opponent to put him on the defensive, as she was still completely new to how this worked and had been advised by Mercury to let her opponent determine the pace until she no longer believed him to improve for a while.

His first strike was not sloppy, but it was slow and very predictable to counter, which forced Loivissa to squash down her instinct to immediately seize victory and instead match his pace instead, as she parried his strike with the very first and most basic parry that she had ever learned.

The match only continued at this pace for a short while, before Loivissa felt more than saw the increase in pace and ingenuity. Strikes were thrown out and blocked, swords clashed with barely any sparks between them and a few feints occurred, but none too inventive, and throughout the entire time, Loivissa constantly had to battle with the inborn instinct to simply lunge out and seize the victory in a brief but fast display of skill.

A few more minutes passed without much of interest happening, other than the all too slow increase in pace and skill. Loivissa knew that this was both a test of her skill and endurance, of which she was currently being far below even the average among new riders, but her inability to just seize victory kept nagging at her like a fly refusing to go away.

It kept going like this for what seemed like an eternity, before Loivissa finally realized that they had long since surpassed the usual limits of humans, which she knew quite well thanks to training with her guards at Nolondil.

Now that she thought about it, it actually seemed like the entire technique had been developed specifically to try and slowly but surely heighten the lesser combatant's usual skill level without his knowledge, as few would be able to go past their usual limits on command. This way, it felt more like they were simply keeping up with each other without concerning themselves about where their usual limits should have been.

What seemed like another fifteen minutes passed before Loivissa started to detect that the pace was no longer improving. She actually felt kind of sad that it was to stop here, as she had finally begun enjoying the constant rush of excitement at how high they would be able to go.

Twice she lowered her pace and tried to goad her opponent further than where they had been before, but only once did she succeed and only briefly at that, before she finally decided that she would have to end it now.

By quickening her pace, Loivissa was able to parry a blow to her shoulder with her sword, so that her opponent would have been exposed if not for his quick reaction of covering his torso with his shield. Because he thought himself relatively safe, Loivissa was able to quickly close the space between them and with her free hand, she pushed on his shield with as much force as she could muster without breaking her bones.

Her opponent was sent staggering backwards from the unorthodox blow, before he lost his footing and landed on his back with his shield still covering his torso and his sword having fallen just out of reach from his hand.

Loivissa's right foot was on the shield, while her sea-blue rider sword's tip was at his throat, before he even had time to properly register what had happened.

"**Yield**", she commanded, and with some confusion as to what had just happened, he slowly dipped his head in surrender.

A loud chorus of applause instantly rose from the crowd, but Loivissa hardly registered it as she removed herself from him and offered her free hand to help him get up. He took it without any animosity whatsoever, instead only having an expression of newfound respect on his face.

"**Your skill greatly surpassed mine**", her opponent stated almost happily, like his loss was nothing more than the opportunity for him to improve and learn, which she supposed was actually what Mercury had said was the key aspect of their culture.

Complete silence roared after this statement, as everyone waited for her reaction. Loivissa knew that her next words could very well mean the difference between getting accepted or branded as an outcast.

"**You do me honour. I found our match both exhilarating and learned a few tricks myself**", Loivissa honestly stated, which elicited an even larger round of cheering from those around them, as everyone now stormed forth to talk with her and learn some of the techniques that she had used.

The only ones not storming forth were Mercury and Naina on his right. Naina looked more like she was revaluating and dissecting Loivissa with her bare eyes, something that Loivissa was not particularly comfortable with, so she instead tried to catch Mercury's gaze.

When she finally did catch it, a minute dip of his head and a small smirk tugged at his lips was all the confirmation that she needed to know that he thought that she had done good. A single look at the significantly more talkative and friendly people around her would have yielded the same result.

She was finally in, and not just some outsider that had to cling to Mercury or her dragon to have someone to talk to!

Now she was a part of the pack.

* * *

In case any of you still remember what I wrote in the start, let me tell you that not only have I through the series given references that not only reveal major spoilers for the story that they are in, but some also reveal how the entire series is going to end(mostly).

Btw, I just reread the SatW comic(if you have not read them, do it! They are hilarious stereotypes of how Scandinavians see ourselves and the world) Funny Movie, and I realized that the author's note about Scandinavian humour is not only spot on, but is actually a large part of some of my themes in this series. It is rather disturbing now that I think about it, but considering that a scene from a movie still cracks everyone up up here merely by mentioning it(one of the protagonists starts asking one out of the picture whether he is staring at him and gets progressively more aggressive to the point that he draws a Desert Eagle on the recently revealed cow perpetrator, before he then continues to talk down to it before he shoots it between its eyes. Search "Blinkende lygter Arne og koen", translated into Blinking lights Arne and the cow, if you want to get a taste of our particular form of humour. Btw, the sentences said after the man in black has been shot at is: "WTF are you doing?" and then the fat guy with the automatic: "We are hunting"), I believe that I should be okay as long as I do not leave Scandinavia


	12. Drunk and disorderly

Since this is Before Friday Thursday, I think that this chapter fits quite nicely.

* * *

**Drunk and disorderly**

**Loivissa POV  
**It had been two weeks since Loivissa's first duel with the dökkálfar, and since then, she had had many more duels. She was now officially the best swordsman on the ship, although the last duel had taken quite a while and required her to stretch her imagination to its limits in order to win.

She had learned quite a few tricks from the dökkálfar, and the dökkálfar had in turn learned quite a lot from her. Adûn had grumbled that everyone were still inferior to him, to which the dökkálfar had laughed and told him that Kilgharrah had already made that abundantly clear to them.

Loivissa had officially been accepted as one of them, which among other things entailed that the only tongue spoken on the ship was now the Ancient one, although no official or unofficial verdict had declared that it should be so. Everyone had simply switched in order to better include Loivissa, which she was quite grateful for.

She now knew Brunhvitr, a friendly male dökkálfar with long silvery hair and a passion for the harp, Ekar, the now second best swordsman on the ship, Edur, the ship's notorious trickster, Fells, a giant even among the dökkálfar, and then there was Moi, the head-chef aboard The Mirage, as well as many many more.

They told her the stories and songs of their home, in which quite a few detailed the exploits of Draumr Raschr and his heroic deeds that saved Alalëa from the first ra'zac invasion attempt many centuries ago, and she in turn told them the stories and songs of Alagaësia. They seemed particularly interested in the elven and urgal ones, but Loivissa knew only few urgal tales, so they had to settle for the elven ones.

But although most of the crew had accepted her, a single one still kept eluding her. Her full name was Naina Uluth, and she was the young female dökkálfar that was also Loivissa's roommate, although Loivissa doubted that the arrangement was entirely by her good will.

Loivissa had seen her talking animatedly with the other crew at some of the meals, but she kept her polite but curt appearance whenever Loivissa was around.

Although Loivissa could say that the entire reason for wanting to know more about Naina was because she wanted to improve their non-existent relationship, she could not entirely deny that part of the reason behind her curiosity was because the woman almost always hung around Mercury during the day, which no one else, herself included, were allowed to in such an extent.

A few inquiries among the others had revealed that the official reason for Naina's closeness to Mercury was because she was his aide de camp. The few that had known of Mercury before the recent invasion had told her that Naina had been with him before being named as such.

No one knew the exact relationship between Mercury and his young aide de camp, and quite a lot of them had running bets on what it was. This information irked Loivissa even more. Why had he not mentioned her mere existence even once in his letters when they had apparently been together for years or more?

All of these reasons were why Loivissa now found herself knocking on the door to her very own bedroom. She had decided that before confronting Mercury about it, she was going to gather as much information as possible, and hopefully finally break the ice between the two only females on the ship.

To help with this daunting task, Loivissa had two bottles that she had pilfered from Mercury's quarters, tugged under her arm. Written on the etiquette in Mercury's own handwriting was the words 'Brandy, ADG 224' and nothing else. Loivissa recognized it as Mercury's handwriting because no one else that she knew wrote the letters in even their own personal notes like the stiff formal printings in books, and not the usual fluent handwriting of most people.

Loivissa did not know what exactly 'Brandy' was, nor did it matter as long as it was alcoholic, but she was pretty sure that ADG 224 was the year-system that she had found in all of Mercury's old writings, which seemed to have its beginning at Galbatorix's death.

Three short raps on the door quickly led to a short, "**enter**", from Naina on the inside. When the guest turned out to be her own roommate, who had never knocked before, Naina showered a brief moment of confusion, before she asked, "why did you knock?"

"We need to talk", Loivissa said with authority, before she closed the door behind her. Now that she thought about it, she probably should have found a less intimidating way of approaching the topic, but it was too late to change it now.

"About what?", Naina asked warily, clearly having misunderstood her intent as a hostile one.

"I wanted to try and break this wall between us", Loivissa said and only now revealed the two bottles that she had previously had hidden behind her back, along with two cups that she set on the table in the middle of the room.

Naina looked at the two bottles suspiciously, more than likely knowing where they were from, before she eventually hesitantly pulled a chair to the table and took the newly poured cup of brandy that Loivissa had just poured for both of them.

"To new beginnings!", Loivissa said and raised her cup to meet Naina's.

"To a successful war", Naina answered more docilely and hesitantly met Loivissa's glass, before both took a big drink from their respective cups.

"Bwadr! How can anyone drink this vile liquid?!", Loivissa exclaimed as she spat out some of it with a grimace.

"I will agree with you on that", Naina agreed with an equal grimace, but had the good sense to slowly let it back into her cup instead of spitting it out all over the table like Loivissa.

"Haha, so we finally found something to agree on", Loivissa laughed, "what else do you think we could find? What do you like to do in your spare time?"

As it turned out, they did in fact have a few similarities, not many but still a few. One of them was their likings to gardening, while another was their love for children. Throughout it all, they still took tentative sips of the vile liquid called brandy, and after a while, the taste hardly affected them at all.

Then there was a chunk of time which Loivissa could not remember, before they had somehow ended up leaving their chairs in preference of Naina now lying on the table, while Loivissa had somehow found herself lying on the floor below it.

"Naina…do you-, how did…", Loivissa remembered trying to say before she finally managed to get her head together, "when did you and Mercury meet?"

"It will be 22 years since I laid eyes on him for the first time? Yes, that must be it, because I am 27 now", Naina replied somewhat more coherently, "and I have been with him ever since".

"That long huh?", Loivissa mused, "how did you meet?"

"I cannot actually remember much about it", Naina admitted, "I was originally from a small village near what we dökkálfar call 'The Border'. It was not a significant city state or anything, but the people there were kind and nice. Then one day, I remember that a band of bandits came to town and started killing everyone. I was so scared, more scared than I have ever been since, and so I hid myself in my parents' house.

I do not remember for how long I hid, but I suddenly began to hear the crackling of flames, and before I knew what was happening, one of the bandits had somehow broken into my house and cornered me. I remember his eyes were crazed like a madman's, but before he had time to do anything to me, a sword suddenly pierced through his chest. The man fell and behind him, bathed in the glow of the dancing flames that licked the walls of my house, Mercury stood in his custom-tailored black leather armour. I have never since felt so relieved and so frightened at the same time".

"What happened then?", Loivissa asked with bated breath.

"He just stood there, his blood-drenched sword hanging loosely at his side, while the flames danced behind him and gave his silvery eyes a tint of golden orange or blood red to them", Naina described, "for a long time, he held my gaze, as if searching for something. I was too afraid to look away and was still not sure whether this mysterious creature, whose like I had never seen or heard of before, would eat me", at this she let out a small chuckle at the mere notion, "I know now that he would never do something like that, but I was very young and very afraid, and he was foreign and frightening. Anyway, after what seemed an eternity, he suddenly broke eye-contact, turned around, and marched out without a word spoken and without ever looking back to see if I was following. To this day, I still do not completely understand what compelled me to follow this strange frightening stranger, but I somehow ended up doing so, and here I am".

"He raised you?", Loivissa asked incredulous. Never in her life had she imagined Mercury capable of raising someone, especially when he himself had previously stated that he did not think that he would make a very good father.

"Well, in a way, I suppose", Naina giggled at something unsaid, "I mean, he never actually adopted me or anything, and he was a very strict person to follow, constantly challenging me to do better, although when I finally met Kilgharrah, the dragon quickly took a liking to me and we ended up teaming up against Mercury on many occasions of mischief, but I can honestly say that almost everything that I know today, I know only because of him".

"Was he always strict with you?", Loivissa questioned curiously.

"No, not always, and he never demanded anything of me that he was not sure that I would eventually be able to master, although he has never actually told me that detail. He was kind when I needed him to be, but more often than not, he preferred to let his actions speak for him, even though they never spoke as loudly as words could", Naina said fondly, "but what about you, how did you first meet him?"

"That must have been 76 years since now", Loivissa mused loudly, "we had had some troubles with a shade and Adûn and I were assigned to guard him while he tracked it down. I was only 97 at the time, and only a fledgling dragon rider on my very first mission for the order. I remember that I was completely terrified and awkward around him during much of the journey".

"What happened then?", Naina questioned just as curiously as Loivissa had before.

"I eventually got kidnapped by the very shade that we were hunting", Loivissa admitted, "Mercury enlisted my brother and two of his friends' help to rescue me, and while my brother and his friends rescued me from the shade's lair, Mercury challenged the shade on the fields in front of it".

"He killed a shade?!", Naina exclaimed.

"No, I actually ended up killing it", Loivissa corrected her, "although he was quite close to it, I might say, and the only reason that I managed to do so was because he handed me the tools to do it after he had been grievously wounded. After that, I was put in a healing ward to let my injuries heal and did not wake for an entire week, and when I finally woke, Mercury had already set sail from Alagaësia. The next time that I saw him was when I was brought aboard by the Ra'zac and their lethrblaka parents".

"That is-, I do not know-, he must have very high hopes for you", Naina finally finished saying.

"Yeah, perhaps", Loivissa answered, not at all sure about that last part.

She was also not entirely sure why her head spun as it did. They had not even finished drinking the entire bottle yet, and it could hardly be any more potent than faelnirv. Could it?

They then somehow changed the topic to discussing the meanings of colours, although Loivissa was not entirely sure how that happened.

When Loivissa later came to, she was lying on the floor with the lower parts of her legs lying further up than the rest of her body and on something soft. She could feel the cool feeling of the flask in her left hand, but had a strange weight placed on top of her and on her left wrist.

Her head was pounding like a thousand dwarves were trying to dig their way out of it, and when she finally managed to open her eyes, the light blinded her and she had to close them again. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, the first thing that she noticed was that the sun seemed to be high in the sky already.

Slowly craning her head down to look at what was on top of her, Loivissa caught a glimpse of something so strange that she would not have believed it if she did not see it, because lying on top of her was the sleeping form of Naina.

Naina's head was currently using Loivissa's breasts as a pillow, while her right arm had latched itself unto Loivissa's left wrist in what looked to be a bid to reach the bottle in Loivissa's left hand. Naina's right arm was tugged underneath Loivissa's back in what could almost be called an embrace, but unlike Loivissa, who could now see that her legs were still atop Naina's bed, Naina's legs were lying on the ground and were split between Loivissa's legs, and finally, a large grey woollen blanket had somehow found its way atop both of their sleeping forms.

Loivissa had no idea how they had ended up in this position, but she was immensely glad that they had not decided to undress for the night. She would never have lived it down if someone had come inside, which the blanket indicated had already happened, and found them in nothing but their scant sleeping attire, or less.

_Ugh, my head!_, Loivissa groaned, as she tried shifting to send some blood back into her sleeping limbs, _how did this happen? We only drank half a bottle of this. Not even faelnirv would have induced something like this after so little_.

After dropping the half-empty bottle, Loivissa tried to push the still sleeping Naina off of her without waking her, as she did not have the heart to do so. Although Loivissa felt that she needed to get up and do…something, she knew what a minute ago, but it had now disappeared in the cloud that currently was her mind, Naina on the other hand was still blissfully asleep and free of the groaning headache that plagued Loivissa.

As it turned out, removing herself from underneath Naina without resorting to directly waking her was more difficult than first assumed. Naina did not want to let her pillow go, it seemed, as she only tightened her embrace around her back when Loivissa tried to remove it.

After a little fiddling, and eventually being forced to pry Naina's hands off of her with pure strength, Loivissa escaped with only a grunt of disapproval from the still sleeping Naina. Loivissa then staggered to the door, which was made the more difficult by having the world spin around whenever she took a step.

Not wanting to make a fool of herself in front of the entire crew, whose respect she had only recently earned, Loivissa threw out her mind in search of Adûn's to get his aid. Her attempt was both successful and unsuccessful in that she managed to reach Adûn easily enough, but also managed to reach everyone else at the same time.

Quickly withdrawing from the many alien minds, Loivissa was left with only her beloved eternal partner-of-heart-and-mind.

_Your mind feels strange_, Adûn noted with curiosity, _what happened? It has never felt like this before in any of your previous parties_.

_I do not know, I cannot remember_, Loivissa admitted, _could you help me remember the words to heal me of this?_

_Judging from your attempt to reach me, I do not think that allowing you to perform magic right now would be wise_, Adûn said amused, _you would have a better chance with having someone else do it for you_.

_But I cannot let anyone see me like this, let alone admit that I am too intoxicated to perform magic myself_, Loivissa argued, _the dökkálfar would lose all respect for me_.

_Mercury could do it_, Adûn suggested, _I think he already knows about this. I saw him exit the hall to your quarters earlier this morning_.

Mercury? Yes, he would be able to help, and now that Loivissa thought about it, she seemed to remember that this very idea was what had driven her this far, though she had not been able to remember why at the time.

_But I still cannot get across the ship without causing a stir when everything is spinning around as it is_, Loivissa said dismayed at still not being able to control her own limbs.

_Hold on for a moment and let me land_, Adûn answered, _I will control your limbs for you on your way_.

And so it was that Loivissa shortly after found herself walking somewhat normally across the deck without actually telling any of her limbs to move. The loss of control was frightening to Loivissa, for although she trusted Adûn more than she trusted herself, allowing someone full control of her body was still something else entirely.

More than a few times, Loivissa had to watch herself almost stumble on the deck, and although she never fell, she had come pretty close a few times.

_Watch it_, Loivissa admonished Adûn after a close call near Mercury's quarters.

_It is not my fault that your limbs are so thin, frail and unbalanced_, Adûn huffed in return, _it was still much better than anything you could have accomplished in your state. Should I walk you in there as well?_

_Of course it was my big scaly dragon_, Loivissa laughed at her dragon's pride, which earned her a strange look from a dökkálfar nearby, _but it will not be necessary in there. If he does not already know, then he will after I ask him to heal me_.

_Good luck then_, Adûn answered before he stretched his wings again, _I will take flight again. This rocking piece of wood is already starting to make my head feel dizzy_.

Loivissa quickly severed their mental link, but not before sending a wave of love and appreciation through first, before she opened the door unannounced. After navigating her way around the partition, Loivissa found Mercury looking very intently on a painting covering most of the starboard wall.

The painting was one that Loivissa had noticed before but never thought to question about, as it had not seemed all that important to her. It consisted of hundreds of small squares in height and thousands in width, and all of these squares were only painted one colour each, so that when put together, they formed some kind of intricate pattern or whatever. Loivissa had never spent particularly long studying it and was not about to try to in her current state.

She was just about to say something to announce her presence to the seemingly oblivious Mercury, before he shushed her by saying, "not now", and holding his right hand up against her with his palm first, as if physically stopping her from saying anything with the gesture alone.

After what seemed like an eternity of head-pounding, Mercury finally moved his hand from its previous position towards a seemingly random tile near the upper right corner of the painting, while visibly pleased exclaiming, "I got you!"

He then somehow pressed the small tile a few centimetres in for a few moments, before the entire painting to Loivissa's surprise started rearranging itself tile by tile. When the…painting?...finished rearranging itself, a completely new painting had formed from the same tiles that had been used before, and just when Loivissa thought that the show was over, a clicking sound, as if a lock clicking into place, could be heard from Mercury's desk.

"Bloody hell, I was sure that I had it this time", Mercury angrily proclaimed, before he seemingly remembered that Loivissa was still in the room with him, "oh, yeah, that is right, you are finally up then. Good good, I have prepared some breakfast in case you were hungry when you woke up, but I guess that it should rather be considered as lunch now. There is some tea in the pot that will help with the headache, and some fruit on the table", as he said all of this, he somehow managed to place Loivissa down into the chair that she had used to eat breakfast with him a week ago, but now there was a second empty chair beside her.

"Not to sound rude, but I came here to have you heal me with magic from this, not serve me breakfast and let my suffering continue", Loivissa finally managed to interject in the midst of Mercury already pouring some of the tea into her cup, "I can teach you the words if you do not know them, but I need you to do the magic for me, as I am incapable in my current condition".

"I am afraid that that is an impossibility right now", Mercury admitted somewhat downcast for the first time since she entered, "but the tea is a special one that is collected from the heartlands of The Northern Wastes on Alalëa, and it should ease your pain and help you recover for now".

"Why can you not just heal me?", Loivissa questioned suspiciously.

"Perhaps we can discuss this after you have finished your tea and breakfast, but certainly not before", Mercury said, and Loivissa knew that he would never budge on it, before he tried cheering her up, "but we can discuss much until then. For example, I believe that you look much better than I would have imagined after consuming a bottle and a half of my brandy".

"Was it not only half a bottle?", Loivissa questioned confused while trying to at least nibble at some bread with jam, "I only remember seeing one bottle this morning, and that one was only half empty".

"Yeah, imagine my surprise when I walked in on you to check what was keeping Naina from our usual shared breakfast, only to discover the two of you passed out on the floor", Mercury almost laughed but managed to hold it in, "and then to top it all off, I find that the second empty bottle has been magically glued to the ceiling!"

"So that is where that one went", Loivissa said thoughtfully, "but what was in those bottles to poison us such? Even faelnirv should not have made me lose that much control, let alone consciousness, by only sharing a bottle and a half".

"It is called brandy and is a homebrew of mine. It is quite a bit stronger than faelnirv, I might add", Mercury said in rushed details, "although I do hope that Naina does not suffer too badly this morning. She has never really been that drunk, you see".

The second mention of Naina sparked something in Loivissa's memory about what she and Naina had discussed last night about how Mercury had rescued her from bandits, "listen, about Naina, we talked some last night and she told me the story of how you two first met, but I would like to reconfirm my memory of her version with yours".

"Not now, perhaps after breakfast and tea", Mercury suddenly flat out refused in a commanding tone, before descending into a more friendly one, "sorry, it is something quite personal for me, but you are free to ask almost any other question until then".

After wracking her brain for ideas, Loivissa finally found one that had interested her since she first saw it in action, "that painting over there, the one with the tiles, what is it exactly and why does it move around?"

"Oh that one", Mercury said amused, "it is actually not a painting, but rather a puzzle. I am supposed to figure out the pattern hidden within the tiles and then hit the one tile that does not fit the pattern in order to unlock a lock on this chest", and as he said this, he drew a small chest, which was no more than half a metre long, 30 centimetres wide and 30 centimetres high, up from a drawer behind the desk.

The box was made of some dark wood sort that Loivissa was not familiar with, and the only things of notice on it were the ten glass plates that revealed a small lock inside, where three of the ones on Loivissa's side where unlocked.

"If I guess wrong, as I just did, then the pattern resets to a completely new one, which is one level down from my previous one, and resets a lock, so that I have to work my way up again", Mercury explained, "it gets exponentially more difficult the higher you get, and I have been stuck at around seven to eight for quite a while now. You just saw me bump down to level six, so I am afraid that I am quite a long way from opening this".

"Why do you not just force the box open if it gives you so much trouble?", Loivissa questioned, "and where did you even get something like this?"

"Well to answer your second question first, I got it on a small island group located roughly halfway between Alalëa and Ra'zac Superior. They technically belong to The Ra'zac Empire, but because they do not have much of value and are fairly lightly populated, they are allowed to self-govern as long as they pay a higher tribute", Mercury narrated, "I actually got it from the local master puzzle-maker", and upon her incredulous expression, he further explained, "they do not have all that much in the way of sports or anything else, so puzzles must have seemed like a cheap way of entertaining themselves. Anyway, to make a long story short, I sort of made a bet with him that I could solve his most difficult puzzle in one month's time, but when I could not, I bought it from him, and here I am now, 3 years later and still no closer to solving it than I have been for the last 2 years, even though I have dedicated much of my spare time to it. And to answer your first question, I promised that I would one day return with all the puzzles solved and the chest opened, so forcing my way into it would hardly be of any use to me, as it would just deprive me of the pleasure of finally having solved it fair and square".

"Have you ever considered that it is impossible for you to solve it?", Loivissa questioned astounded at the amount of time he had dedicated to it thus far.

"No, I am pretty sure that it is solvable", Mercury objected.

"No, I meant, are you sure that YOU will ever be able to solve it?", Loivissa clarified.

"Given enough time…yes, absolutely. No code can remain unbroken forever", Mercury declared, "I guess that is one of the advantages about not aging; even if it takes a century, I will still be here, provided that I do not die in the war of course".

"I guess you are right", Loivissa admitted, before their conversation fell into companionable silence.

Loivissa was almost done with her tea and breakfast, and now that she thought about it, she had hardly felt the headache in a while. Her head still spun if she moved it too fast, but it was still a big improvement from before.

When she was finally done with her meal, Loivissa pushed the plate away, looked directly into Mercury's waiting gaze and said in as a firm a tone as she could muster at the time, "now I would like some answers. First I want to know about why you said that it was impossible for you to heal me with magic, and then I would like to know your version of what happened at Naina's village".

Mercury sighed, as if suddenly very tired, but eventually relented and said, "the answer to the first is very simple; I simply cannot do much of anything in regards to magic anymore. Even lifting a pebble has now become a chore that tires my mind greatly".

"But you performed magic on this ship with the ra'zac?", Loivissa objected.

"Very briefly and very undemanding", Mercury said heavily, "what I did was nothing more than lighting a small light for a very brief period of time to start an already planned course of action. It is something that even the weakest of mages should be able to do with no trouble".

"How did this happen?", Loivissa asked astounded.

"That is actually quite intertwined with your second question", Mercury said heavily, "you see, I guess that Naina told you her version of what happened, the one with the bandits?", and upon Loivissa's silent nod, he continued, "that is not what actually happened.

You see, long ago, I was near The Border, the line that divides the continent of Alalëa up between the southern more inhabited lands and the scarcely populated Northern Wastes, which is not much more than a block of ice and snow all year round.

Anyway, I had just finished collecting some herbs, well actually the tea that you have been drinking, for a friend, when he asked me to do him a favour. A lot of merchants had gone missing when travelling towards one of their smaller trading partner villages, and he wanted me to look into it, as he suspected bandits.

What I found was something quite different from bandits".

As Mercury seemed to be lost in his memories, Loivissa cleared her throat to let him know that she was still there.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, anyway, I found that the ones that had killed the merchants were not bandits, but the villagers and a few of the merchants themselves", Mercury resumed his tale, "though they were no longer the people that they were supposed to be. Their behaviour was that of madmen, with no caring as to who they hurt or whether they got hurt themselves. It quickly became clear to me that trying to reason with them was a lost cause, so I had to purify the village by fire and steel to try and prevent whatever had happened from spreading, as I was afraid that whatever had affected the villagers had somehow been able to spread to the merchants as well, and if that contagion got out, then the entire continent might have been in danger".

"So why did you choose not to kill Naina then?", Loivissa asked, while feeling sad and fearful of what could have caused something like that.

"I had just entered a house to chase down one of the last ones that ran in there for some reason, and after I killed it, I saw a small child in front of me", Mercury heavily said, "I was just about to do the same to the child when I noticed that she cowered before me. None of the others had cowered or feared for their life in the least, so I was perplexed by it. After looking through her memories, I found that she had not been affected the slightest by the contagion, even though she had lived there her entire life like the others had, and that she had hidden in her house since its beginning.

I knew that I was still supposed to kill her. I knew that it was the logical thing to do. I had no idea how long the incubation period was, if it even was a disease, and so I could not be sure that she was not affected, or at least that was how I kept reasoning that I could not let her live".

"But could you not also have been affected at the time?", Loivissa interrupted.

"I theoretically could, yes, but I had taken certain magical precautions beforehand, and yet, despite of all that, I still planned to isolate myself in the wilderness for an entire month to be sure. A month was the time from the first merchant left and to when I arrived, so I deemed that I should be safe if nothing happened within that time", Mercury explained, "anyway, to get back to the story, I kept arguing with myself for a while about how it was the only way to be sure, but in the end, I simply could not bring myself to slay her as she sat there. I do not know why exactly, but I think that it was because, despite how afraid that she was of me, she never broke eye contact with me.

So I ended up letting her live and decided that I would leave it up to her what she wanted to do afterwards, and to my surprise, she began following me. Now that I look back on it, it was not really a choice that I should have given such a young girl, especially not since dökkálfar are not considered adults until they are 25".

As Mercury ended his tale, there was something that had kept bugging Loivissa throughout it all, "you never mentioned how this was connected to you losing your ability to do magic?"

"Oh, yeah, that actually came slightly afterwards", Mercury answered, "you see, during my one month's isolation, in which she followed me wherever I went, I began to notice that the animals around us began to act strangely, like the villagers had. When I finally managed to catch one that had completely lost it, I found that it had not been particularly near us, but that its mind had somehow been meddled with. Since I knew that there was no one but the two of us, I quickly realized that the culprit must have been the little girl with me".

"She murdered her entire village?", Loivissa said perplexed, "no wonder that she does not wish to tell anyone of that, but uses bandits as an excuse instead".

"She does not use bandits as an excuse!", Mercury said suddenly angry, "what she told you is what she remembered happened. Imagine having to watch everyone you have ever known, even your own family, go berserk around you and kill and mutilate at leisure. It was no wonder that her mind simply could not cope with it and instead replaced what really happened with something slightly less horrifying".

"But she still killed her entire village?", Loivissa continued.

"Not intentionally, but yes", Mercury said, before he took a deep breath to gather his thoughts and finally continued, "from here on out, we leave the road of facts and delve into what I have been able to theorize based on her stories about her life before the incident and my observations in the wilderness, although some things will be conclusive enough that I take them for facts.

I believe that Naina was born with a very unique gift, although she is not aware of this herself. It is a special kind of wild magic that allows her to circumvent any barriers around a person's mind and look directly into it. When she was little, it helped her understand the people around her better, and she was exceptionally quick to learn to speak because of it, but as she grew, so did her powers, until she finally passed the fine line between reading the intentions of those around her and altering them.

Understand that I do not believe that she has meant anything bad by it, how could she when she was not even aware of the contact, but having an untrained, and as foreign a mind as a child's, begin to unknowingly meddle with the minds of adults can lead to unintentionally and unknowingly breaking that person's mind.

I have further theorized that the vaster and more complex the mind, the longer exposure time is needed in order for a person to be affected. That was why the small animals around us in the wilderness quickly succumbed, while days might have passed before the villagers even began to notice anything strange".

"But are we not in danger right now then?", Loivissa questioned and could not entirely conceal the angst in her heart, "and would you not have gone mad after an entire month alone with her in the wilderness?"

"I will start with the second question", Mercury said, suddenly seeming tired, "I have theorized that since dragons' minds and bodies are protected from birth against such magical manipulation by the same wild magic that fuels her gift, which I learned from some ancient dragon rider and elven texts, they are immune to this, and since I have a unique soul-bond with Kilgharrah, his protection protects me as well, which I also theorize is the case for all dragon riders, such as yourself. That is how I stayed sane during my isolation.

The first part is a bit trickier to explain correctly, but you can essentially say that after I discovered what the cause of the 'disease' was, I ought to just have killed her then and there and be done with it, but I found that something held me back. Something about her and her gift made me hesitate".

Loivissa already had a suspicion as to what that something could be, because in her mind, Naina's 'gift' sounded eerily similar to Elva's, and since Loivissa knew that Elva and Mercury had been quite close, and that he had harboured a secret guilt about having to kill her all the way through The Shadow War, suddenly having someone so similar to Elva in his care would have definitely weighed heavily on his choices.

"So when I could not bring myself to kill her right there, in the middle of nowhere, where no one would ever find her corpse, I decided that I had to take responsibility for her instead", Mercury continued, "the first thing that needed to happen was for me to lock her powers away, which I did by an ancient sacrificial spell that I learned some time ago in Ellesméra, which requires her to always have a talisman close to her person in order for it to work.

As I said, it is unfortunately sacrificial, since magic within the mind is a hard thing to measure and control, so I have had to use my own ability to reach my magic as a counter for blocking hers. Essentially, this means that as she gets stronger, my magic becomes weaker, and lately, her powers have bloomed especially much, which is actually a natural thing for dökkálfar to develop their magical talent at this age.

That is also why I foresaw this coming and enchanted a stone to do the transportation spell for me, in exchange for me activating and fuelling it, years ago, but when I sent my last message to you, even activating it had become exceedingly difficult".

"Does she not have any idea that she is the reason behind your waning powers, and where is this talisman of hers even? She must have some idea about it all when she is forced to always keep close to such a thing?", Loivissa questioned, she herself knew that she would feel terrible if she was ever told that she was the cause of someone dear to hers suffering.

"Not many actually know of my weakening state", Mercury admitted, "Kilgharrah, Naina and the old Supreme Commander, though I really need to inform the new one at some point, all knew that it was happening, although Kilgharrah is the only one that knows why it is happening. The others believe that it is part of my natural cycle, something which I may or may not have hinted at".

"Your natural cycle? What do they think you are?", Loivissa huffed amused.

"Well, they know that I am not human, or any other kind of species that they know of", Mercury started equally amused, "and since a few on this expedition were in their youths when I first visited Alalëa, they know that I do not age, but other than that, I am not sure what they think that I am, but back to the talisman. You have actually seen it, as has everyone else on this ship; it is the butterfly on top of Naina's ponytail, although it started out as a wristband. She does not know its exact importance, but treasures it because it was the very first gift that I gave to her when I named her anew".

"Why did you name her anew?", Loivissa asked confused, "what was wrong with her old name?"

"Nothing, I think, but she was not very talkative for quite a while, and when I finally managed to get her to speak to me, she said that she could not remember her name, so I gave her a new one in accordance with the dökkálfar tradition, which entails that her first name must be in the Ancient language, and preferably be something of importance to the child during their naming ceremony or just something that helps define the child, while the last name is actually a family name in the urgalgra language that usually symbolizes their family's ideals or hopes. In this case, I had to make a family name for her as well, and before you ask, Uluth means moon", Mercury explained, "it is furthermore tradition to give a very personal gift to the child during the naming ceremony, which they are supposed to keep as long as they live, as it is meant to identify them as them, sort of like a signet ring, except that it does not necessarily get passed down to the next generation. Naina's was the butterfly".

"So when are you going to tell her the whole truth then?", Loivissa demanded.

"Never", was Mercury's simple answer.

"You cannot keep this from her forever", Loivissa argued.

"I sure as hell can", Mercury snarled, "I will not inform her of any of this, not even if it means that I will be forced to live without magic for the next century or so".

"She has a right to know about what she is", Loivissa said fiercely.

"And what is she then?", Mercury snarled back with an angry glint in his eyes, which made Loivissa aware that she was threading on a very thin sheet of ice on this subject.

"She has powers that would make even the mightiest of riders put to shame", Loivissa said, "who knows how far her powers have grown since she was five? What if they unintentionally were to be unleashed? She needs to learn how to control them, not just have them locked up".

"How long do you think that it would take for her to put the puzzle together about what really happened in her village if she found out what she could do? How do you think that she might react then, huh? She deserves to be happy for once!", Mercury shouted and rose from his seat in anger, before seeing the surprised expression on Loivissa's face, which forced him to calm himself down and retake his seat.

_Naina deserves to be happy for once or Elva deserves to be happy for once, which is it?,_ Loivissa wished to say, but knew that doing so now would not lead to anything productive, so she settled with saying, "what if she grows stronger than what you can counter?"

"Then I will begin to teach her how to focus it, but not a minute before", Mercury answered adamantly and put a final stop to the discussion, before his features softened slightly and he began apologizing, "sorry, I did not mean to get that upset", but before Loivissa could say anything in return, he redirected their conversation, "look how far the sun has risen, I better go wake up the other sleeping beauty or she might miss the whole day".

And as he finished saying this, he began gathering a few assorted foods and a cup of the same tea as the one that Loivissa had been drinking unto a plate, before he carried it out of his quarters. Loivissa found herself following more because she was unsure of what to do with herself all alone in there than because she wished to go out again.

It took a little while, but they eventually reached Loivissa's and Naina's chamber, where they, upon opening the door, found Naina still lying in the exact same position that Loivissa had left her in.

Mercury sighed and set down the tray on the table in the middle of the room, before he went over and scooted up Naina's still sleeping form and laid her down atop her bed. Loivissa could only watch, while she supported herself to the door frame, as Mercury woke Naina from her slumber by whispering something in her native tongue and gently running his hand down through her tangled hair.

Naina slowly began to wake with a groan, before she realized who had woken her and immediately said in a weak voice, "**are you mad with me?**"

"**I might have been**", Mercury answered gently as he left her hair alone, "**if not for how completely pitiful you look right now. I brought you some food and tea**".

"**Thank you**", Naina muttered grateful. She was apparently even less well at dealing with the morning after than Loivissa.

"**And I will of course need you to catch up with all the work that you have missed this day. Not to mention that I will be coming by later this evening to inspect your chamber, and I expect everything to be so spotless that I will have no need for a mirror to see myself**", Mercury dropped the huge pile of work like he was asking if she wanted butter with that bread, before he turned to look at Loivissa and said, "**this counts for you too, except that your punishment must be more severe since you were the one that stole the bottles in the first place, so your punishment will also entail being on kitchen duty for the next two weeks. You report to Moi immediately this afternoon for your first assignment**".

Naina fell back in her bed groaning, while Loivissa settled for groaning while sitting in the doorway.

"Good afternoon ladies", Mercury said as he stood up and began to walk out, but before he completely exited the room, he added, "I hope that it turned out to be worth the trouble".

Loivissa's and Naina's gazes met, and as if they were mentally communicating, even though they were not, they both genuinely smiled at each other for the first time.

Perhaps it had been worth it after all.

* * *

Do not do the crime if you cannot do the time, as they say, eh?

In other notes, I am currently working on a battleground drawing, which I kind of need in order to write the next couple of chapters. Well, the next couple of chapters from my perspective, from your perspective, you might want to add around 20 chapters to the tally.


	13. Future plans

Wow, I must admit that I am actually intrigued by the fact that despite my link to the character drawing of Mercury, no one seems to have found the picture right next to it, or at least paid it any tribute, as evidenced by people's reactions during the 'Negotiations of a sort' chapter. But...now I kind of need you to either see it or else you might be damn confused about what goes where, so here is the link(which I naturally have also added to my profile by the time that you read this):  
ocadioan dot deviantart dot com / art / Ra-zac-Superior-383335989

* * *

**Future plans**

**Loivissa POV  
**A week had passed since Loivissa and Naina's little drinking adventure, and during that week, nothing much had actually happened. The biggest change had been that Loivissa and Naina were now on friendly terms with each other, while the ONLY other change of significance had been that the fruit and meat rations had begun to run out, giving way for a new diet consisting largely of freshly caught fish and pickled…something.

And while Loivissa was not fond of eating something originally belonging to a living being, the thought of only eating the pickled something for the rest of the journey made her stomach churn. She had seen enough of the barrels that held it, during her kitchen duty, to know that if fish was served, she would happily eat fish.

That was why, when Moi, the head-chef, had told her today that she was free to go early, instead of having to help prepare lunch, she had been absolutely thrilled. But when she heard why she had been relieved for the day, her excitement had turned to confusion.

The reason for her early release had been that Mercury had officially requested to see her. Officially requested! He had never before officially requested to see her when he wanted to talk to her. He would usually just have come himself, or send Naina, to tell her that he wanted to see her when it was convenient, which was why Loivissa was currently feeling an odd mix of apprehension and curiosity, as she approached his quarters.

Three short raps and a strangely pronounced "**enter**" later, she found herself sitting opposite of Mercury at his wooden desk. Mercury had not even looked up once since she entered, instead choosing to have his left hand's middle finger upon a detailed map of the strait running between Atkins and the southern tip of the Isle of First on his left side, his eyes scanning through a book of some kind in the middle and his right hand writing notes on a piece of parchment on his right, while simultaneously chewing on the end of what looked to be a thin raw tree root of some kind.

Frankly, he looked like he could use a break, or another two people to help him out, either would probably suffice.

After a minute or so had passed, Mercury finally put his quill back into its holder, closed the book and pushed it aside, along with the map, before he finally folded his hands together in front of him and looked up at her expectantly, still having the root in his mouth, Loivissa noted amused.

When he did not seem to notice the root, Loivissa tried reminding him discreetly by touching her right index finger to her lips. He seemed completely confused for a short while, before realization set in, as he hurriedly removed the root from his mouth and apologized, "sorry, I guess that I was so used to it that I did not notice that it was even there".

"What is it anyway?", Loivissa asked curious.

"It is a root from a plant from the lands of Shaiheila. It is actually located relatively close to Alagaësia's south-eastern coastline, but since that stretch of land is uninhabited, no contact has ever been made between the two lands", Mercury explained, giving Loivissa a previously unknown insight into just how much of the world that he had travelled, and how much of it still remained completely unknown to her.

"But why are you eating it?", Loivissa questioned. She honestly did not know of anyone back home that ate roots.

"It has a good taste when chewed on for a bit and it helps me relax by having something to chew on", Mercury answered, "I still have a few boxes of them left from my last shipment of spices towards the northern countries. Here have one", and as he said the last bit, he broke the root that he had previously been chewing on, in two and tossed her the half not chewed on.

Loivissa looked at the root questioningly, before trying to tentative bite into it. She was not sure what she expected to happen, having never tried to chew on tree before, but after a few bites without any change in texture or taste, the root suddenly started to soften and a sweet strange taste seeped through.

Although Loivissa could admit that the taste was somewhat interesting, she still believed that it had taken far too much work to get to it for this to become a habit of hers, so she removed the root as politely as she could, before looking at Mercury expectantly. He had after all been the one that had called her here.

Awkward silence seemed to be just as well for Mercury, it seemed, as he simply kept chewing on his root while drumming with his fingers on the desk. If not for the fact that Loivissa grew more and more nervous about why he had called her here, she would almost have found the entire scene quite funny.

He was procrasting, an action not at all in tune with the Mercury that she knew, so whatever he wanted to talk about, it had to be something that either required great thoughtfulness or which he was nervous about how she would take, or possibly both.

"How quickly do you want this war to end?", Mercury pulled himself together and finally asked.

_This very moment if I could have my way_, Loivissa mused, but chose to instead ask about the catch, there always was one when given such a question, "you know that I would say right now, but why ask this of me now?"

"We are a little over a week from reaching our rendezvous point, where I will be given new orders by the new Supreme Commander, and I have yet to inform him of your presence on this vessel", Mercury admitted.

So he had been procrasting for quite a while now, not exactly more comforting to Loivissa. To her, it meant that he knew that this conversation might turn out bad and therefore had decided to try and preserve the peace aboard by saving it for later.

"And why does this fill you with such trepidation?", Loivissa asked warily.

"Have you ever wondered why Kilgharrah accepted to stay behind while I went to Alagaësia?", Mercury seemingly avoided the question.

"I found it strange but assumed that you had your reasons", Loivissa answered.

"The dökkálfar does not have anything flying", Mercury said and folded his hands on the table to stop the drumming, "any dragon is equivalent to thousands of troops that can be saved for something else. Kilgharrah's mere presence in The Capital has freed up five thousand troops from garrison duty".

"So any dragon, let alone a dragon and his rider, would be considered quite valuable, and controlling one would therefore be a huge asset", Loivissa began to see where this was going.

"Spot on, and since I am only a lieutenant commander of the navy, it is highly unlikely that my needs would be deemed sufficient to require such a pair", Mercury continued her train of thought, "the war will not be won without taking the cities, and navies are no use against those further inland. It is highly likely that, if nothing is done, you would be asked to relocate to an army group, most likely the southern one since that one has suffered major losses".

"You said 'if nothing is done', meaning that you know of a way to prevent that from happening", Loivissa noted.

"Yes, I do know of a few", Mercury admitted hesitantly, "although I only think that one of them will be acceptable to you, not to mention the amount of bad-will that I would garner by doing any of them to keep you here. Leading us back to my original question; how quickly do you want this war to end?"

"I would like to hear all the options", Loivissa said, but already knew that she was only doing it to bide her time, as she already had made her decision back in Alagaësia.

"There is the first, which I believe you would find the most attractive; you are to officially resume your apprenticeship with me. Most dökkálfar law agreements state that an apprentice and his or hers master is not to allowed to be forced apart during times of war", Mercury explained.

So the most attractive option was to resume a position in which she was officially submitting to Mercury, not that she had not already done that, but that had been mostly in private and with the hidden thought that they would be close to equals. It made her worry what the next ones would be.

"The second option that I can think of would be marriage", Mercury continued, but upon her utterly surprised expression, he said, "I thought that you might react that way, so that is a definite no. Then we have adoption, but you are far too old to be considered not an adult yet, and finally we have my personal favourite, please do not choose this one, Adûn and yourself could say, 'screw you, we are doing as we like', and then fly away".

Loivissa could not help but grin slightly at the last option, but quickly wiped the grin off of her face, as she seriously said, "I said in Feinster that I would take any order, as long as it came from you, and I stand by that statement".

"So option number 1 then", Mercury surmised, "I will inform the Supreme Commander in my next update then, but I am afraid that this also means that you will have to spend quite a lot of your free time in my presence in order to fulfil the expectations of any apprenticeship. I am not actually required to actively teach you anything, passive teaching methods are not uncommon in certain circles, but you are still required to be there, meaning that your only rival for time spent around me would be Naina".

"Was that supposed to be a joke?", Loivissa asked confused at the last comment.

"Kind of, but I guess Kilgharrah is right when he keeps saying that I have no humoristic sense whatsoever", Mercury said unfazed.

"I would not say that. You are funny some times, but just not when you actively try to be", Loivissa tried reassuring him.

"Always comforting to hear", Mercury snorted in amusement, "anyway, now that you are officially starting an apprenticeship with me, do you have any questions?"

"You mentioned 'most dökkálfar law agreements', not 'dökkálfar law agreements'. Are there more than one?", Loivissa returned to something that had piqued her interest, but that she had saved for later.

"Did we not already go through that? No? Well, then I suppose it is high time that we do", Mercury started, "the dökkálfar are not exactly what you would call a unified people, far from it actually. In their society, any village above 500 inhabitants is considered its own state with its own rules, although quite a lot of them simply copy the rules of their biggest ally.

No city state can technically rule over another city state, but alliances between strong and weak city states are often formulated so that the weaker one is ruled by the stronger one in all but name. This same rule of no governance also means that wars between city states are actually quite rare, and are often only fought after a long period of mutual hostility.

The victor of the war does not gain land, as with most wars that you have heard of, but rather, they are allowed to set the conditions of the loser's surrender, so as to not 'pillage their city again'. In truth, this is often a synonym for forcing the loser to break off certain treaties and then acquire some of the loser's weaker allies for themselves, as well as the more common notion of the loser paying 'war reparations' to the victor".

"How is each city state governed then?", Loivissa questioned intrigued.

"It depends, but the usual rule of thumb is that all the smaller villages have a council of elders to take care of such matters, while most larger cities have a ruling family, kind of like the duchy-system in The Empire, except that they call a male leader for Anax, and a female one for Ánassa", Mercury clarified, "which reminds me that when we meet the Supreme Commander, you must always first address him as Anax Manin of House Rsuth, ruler of Dwera, Supreme Commander of the first ra'zac expedition. After introductions have been done, he will usually have told you what to call him, but if he does not, then call him Anax Manin".

"I think that I got it", Loivissa nodded in confirmation.

"Good, and now that you are my apprentice, all of your actions reflect back on me, so try not to do anything reckless. It is not considered wrong for an apprentice to ask their master for advice, even during a conversation, but if you for some reason are in doubt and do not want to ask me, then please just shut up instead", Mercury instructed a bit roughly, "which brings me to another point that I have been considering for a while now; since I will effectively be taking a lot of heat for our little arrangement, I have planned something that should alleviate some of it, although it is a bit risky".

"Nothing is ever easy, as they say", Loivissa agreed, more than happy to help with anything to help out Mercury of the trouble that she had put him in.

"How glad that I am that you are so agreeable, because it kind of relies quite a lot on you and Adûn", Mercury said with a grin that screamed to Loivissa that she would not like what came next, "we are passing the strait of Atkins in a few days, and I was hoping to bring our ships a little closer than necessary to Atkins, without it seeming like we are deliberately trying to do so, as I want them to launch ships to try and stop us".

"You want me and Adûn to sink them for you to gain some credit for lowering the enemy's navy's numbers?", Loivissa asked suspicious. She did not like the idea of killing entire crews just to help with some bad reputation.

"Eventually, yes, but I need you to get me aboard one of them first, preferably without putting it on fire, so that I can see whether I might salvage some documents about their naval positions, before Adûn then torch the ship to remove the chance of someone finding out what we have done", Mercury proposed his idea, "I will need to fly with you and determine the ship on the spot, and the only way that this is going to work is if they do not know that I have boarded the ship, so it will be a bit tricky".

"Why not have one of the dökkálfar board it instead?", Loivissa questioned, not at all liking Mercury's idea of dropping him off in the midst of hostiles.

"The dökkálfar are not exactly used to be what we would call 'stealthy'. I do not even think that they have a word for it", Mercury reasoned, "I however, have some experience in the field, if I might say so myself, and I also have the added bonus of not being as large as them, giving me a better chance of remaining undetected among the human crew".

"Will there be lethrblaka?", Loivissa asked, "and do you have a plan for getting aboard?"

"There should not be any left on Atkins, as they should all be preparing to defend the mainland", Mercury affirmed, "and about the plan to get aboard unseen, I am so glad that you asked…"

**Mercury POV(two days later)  
**Mercury was always happy when everything went according to plan. His little fleet had ventured closer to Atkins than technically necessary, prompting the Ra'zac Empire to launch seven warships to intercept them.

His little fleet had then in turn taken up battle formation in a triangle formation with his ship protected in the middle, so that it was quite visible that that one was their 'command ship', wherefrom their orders were supposed to go out from. In reality, he had already transferred control of the fleet's further actions to the captain of the left wing ship.

Mercury himself was gliding high in the skies on Adûn's back, completely unseen by the enemy warships, sitting behind Loivissa with an arm around her waist to secure himself, as Adûn's saddle was not exactly made for two people. He was wearing his usual armour minus the cloak and sword, as those things would only have dragged him down. Instead, he chose to trust in stealth and the hidden weapons in his bracers.

"It has begun!", Loivissa shouted in front of him in order to actually be heard from the wind.

Instead of answering directly, Mercury tapped Loivissa on the shoulder to get her attention, before tapping his head to indicate that he wanted to converse mentally instead. Mercury usually did not want to admit this, but it really irked him that he could not even reach out mentally properly anymore.

Soon enough, he let her presence through the first layer of his barriers, quickly sorting out that Adûn was in here together with her, although he would have been more surprised if the dragon had not been.

_Continue gliding for a few minutes. I want to see what they do_, Mercury said mentally, to which he received a mental nod.

Mercury did not need a telescope or Adûn's help to see what went on below, as his eyes were as good as any dragon's, thanks to Kilgharrah's gift. The enemy seemed to try to do a reverse arrow formation, something not all that uncommon when numerical superiority was present and you wanted to encircle your enemy, thereby often forcing them to surrender.

_Now, where are you_, Mercury mused but only realized afterwards that the others would have heard that.

It took nearly ten minutes before he was able to figure out the enemy's command ship from the rest, in which time the two sides had almost met.

_Do a run on the middle ship and then drop me off near the second ship from the middle on the right wing_, Mercury instructed, _after that, I want you to try and set as many ships on the left wing ablaze as you can, before doing the same to the right wing, except that you are to leave out the ship that I am on until a commotion occurs_.

_Are you sure that it is that one?_, Loivissa questioned, but she was already in the process of drawing her sword and Adûn was already preparing to do a dive.

_Positive, the other ships are adjusting their position in the formation in accordance with that one's_, Mercury confirmed, _it would not be noticeable from the sea-level, so they think themselves safe_.

Now came the part that Mercury liked the least; doing a nearly vertical dive, so he tried to secure himself better by also swinging the other arm around Loivissa's waist. Loivissa sensed his discomfort and tried to assure him mentally that Adûn would not let anyone fall off of him, not that it actually helped much.

Loivissa might be completely confident in Adûn's abilities, but she was not the one that was only held in place by her grip around the person in front of her, so he tightened his grip just a bit. Objectively, Mercury knew that compared to what he was about to do, the dangers of a dive should have not affected him at all, but unlike what came next, he would have no ability to control the outcome of the dive.

One mighty roar from Adûn later, Mercury and Loivissa found themselves clinging on to avoid being blown off Adûn by air resistance.

_You did renew Adûn's wards against projectiles, right?_, Mercury asked during their dive.

_Of course I did_, Loivissa huffed, _and who are you to question our wards anyway? We are not the ones whose only reason for still having wards is because they wove them into the fabric of their armour_.

_Just wanted to check_, Mercury answered as they were almost directly above the middle ship.

You could clearly see the utter surprise and terror on the sailors' faces, as they could only watch how Adûn let loose a torrent of sea-blue flames that set their sails and the deck ablaze, which was made all the easier since they did not waste energy warding against such an event in this corner of the world, where dragons were not a threat.

Death by fire was definitely not the way Mercury wanted to go out if he had the choice of how to go, he quickly decided. Perhaps beheading? That seemed relatively quick and painless, now that dying quietly in your sleep from old age was not an option.

Anyway, he did not have time to let his mind wander right now, as Adûn pulled out hard from the dive. Having all those additional G's put on your body was never a pleasant experience in Mercury's experience, but then suddenly being turned upside down, as Adûn levelled out quite close to the water while turning around at the same time, was not all that likeable either.

Mercury's position in the saddle became much harder to maintain after this, now only staying in the saddle thanks to his grip around Loivissa and the squeezing of his legs against the saddle, but he had to maintain the position for a few precious seconds more, or else the next part would be in vain.

Now came the part which Loivissa had balked at the most during his explanation of his plan; letting him drop into the water. It was completely essential for his presence to remain a secret, which was why Adûn had had to turn around to prevent anyone from seeing Mercury jump off, but Loivissa had certainly not been happy about it, no matter how much he had reasoned.

_Be safe_, Loivissa said concerned as he loosened his grip on her and the saddle.

_I should say the same to you, your part is much more dangerous_, Mercury responded as a parting word, before he let go and almost instantly felt himself being pulled down by gravity.

The impact with the water was less pleasant than Mercury could have wished for at such a low height, and he was quite glad that Adûn was able to go as low as he could, as this alone would definitely bruise quite a bit, as he skidded across the surface of the surface.

When he finally stopped, Mercury found that he was quite a bit closer to his target than when he had been dropped off. The swim the rest of the way towards an intercept position was tiresome and cold to say the least, and he was quite glad that he had decided to let his cloak and sword remain on The Mirage.

This next part was something that he had never actually done before, but after scaling mountains and towers, how hard could climbing up the backside of a ship really be? He quickly removed the grappling hook that had previously been securely tied to his belt, before he waited for the ship's hull to pass him by.

It took three tries before the grappling hook remained stuck in the wood, and the ship had almost passed him by entirely by then. No matter, he had wanted to scale the backside of it anyway, so after quickly fishing out another grappling hook, he started to do just that.

The captain's cabin was the quite obvious space at the back of the ship with an obnoxious large glass panel, so locating it was no problem. When Mercury reached the glass panel, he snuck a peek inside, where he noticed about seven people scrambling around in there.

_No good, I won't be able to take that many in one go_, Mercury mused, _I could probably take two out with my shurikens first, but then I would lose much of the surprise in the following melee, meaning that I probably won't be able to take more than two or three at the very most, without giving any of them time to run for help_.

After debating a little for and against, Mercury decided to wait for more people to leave the room. It was a gamble that could go either way, as people were just as likely to enter the room as they were to exit it, and it was made no better by Mercury increasing his chances of being detected the longer he stayed there.

After waiting for a while, four people were finally sent out. Apparently some burning debris from a nearby ship had hit the main sail and was close to lighting the sail on fire, so most people dropped what they had in hand and ran to help, leaving only what Mercury presumed to be the captain and his two advisors.

_Perfect_, Mercury mused, as he drew out two shurikens from his belt with his right hand, while keeping himself secured with his left.

He then broke the glass panel, threw the two shurikens at the advisors, which respectively hit one in the throat and one in the eye, before he jumped through the hole, made his right arm-blade spring forth and killed the captain, who was still standing there looking confused even as he was struck down, before Mercury quickly moved towards the advisor that had been hit in the eye and finished him off.

_Right, now that the first obstacle has been removed, I need to make sure that I am not disturbed_, Mercury hastily thought as he locked the captain's door from the inside and started barricading it with whatever was in reach.

After finishing his task, Mercury started searching through the room for any documents of interest, starting with the ones on the desk right now. A few of them had some relevance, but most were trivial or related to the current naval engagement, of which Mercury would have no further interest later on, so he started looking through the drawers of the desk and all other places that he could think of.

Halfway through emptying the now dead captain's sock drawer, Mercury heard banging and shouting at the door, which was quickly followed by the unmistakeable sounds of someone trying to force their way in.

_Bloody hell, I could have used a few more minutes_, Mercury grimaced at the sound of wood being chopped.

After quickly gathering all the files that he had found to be of even remote interest, which was not as many as he had wanted but more than he had hoped for in a worst case scenario, and then putting them in an airtight leather bag, which he then slung around his torso, Mercury jumped out of the broken glass panel and into the water headfirst.

He met the water with a far more comfortable splash than the last time, but the experience was marred slightly by the arrows that were quickly beginning to fall around him. Quickly swimming in the opposite direction of the ship's direction to get as far away as quickly as possible, Mercury still felt some arrows bouncing off of his wards, while others fizzed around him.

It did not take long before he was out of range from any shots even resembling to be fired with accuracy, and at that point, Mercury ceased spending energy swimming and started to thread water instead, as he watched the final acts of the battle unfold. It kind of reminded him of how the battle of Dread had started out, except that the roles were opposite now.

The entire left wing of the enemy's formation was ablaze, and more than one ship had already keeled over. The middle ship had completely disappeared beneath the waves, leaving only burning wreckage behind, while no ship on the right wing had been left completely untouched by the flames, although the ship that he had recently departed was relatively unharmed as of yet.

That however changed as Mercury watched Adûn dive down from the safety of the skies and set the archers still located at the stern of the ship ablaze, before his massive tail bashed a sizeable hole into the hull of ship, which quickly started to take in massive amounts of water.

It was only now, as he watched the last vestiges of the battle unfold, that Mercury realized an error in his plan; the water was quite a lot colder than he had thought it would be this far south. If he had not been threading water, Mercury was sure that his legs would have already have lost enough heat to go numb. As it was now, his fingers were starting to tingle and shivers had already begun running through his body.

Mercury did not mind cold, liked it even, but he did prefer to prepare for it beforehand. If he had known that the water was this cold, he would have asked Loivissa to set up a ward that kept the water close to him from dissipating again, making it kind of like a wetsuit.

Never before had Mercury felt so helpless. His magic was far too weak to even attempt creating said ward, and he was not mentally strong enough to reach out and tell Loivissa to hurry up getting him either. It did not get any better by it being increasingly difficult to stay above water.

_Great, just freaking great, you are stuck at sea with a steadily approaching hypothermia and no other way to contact Loivissa than lighting a freaking light, which we have not agreed what would mean_, Mercury cursed his own stupidity, _Wait! Just lighting it should tell her that something is wrong!_

Mercury blamed the hypothermia for him taking this long to come to that conclusion, but wasted no further time before executing his improvised plan. Even that simple act took great strength of will to achieve, and Mercury only managed to light it briefly three times before he was too exhausted to try again.

Darkness seemed to creep around the edges of his vision as the minutes slowly ticked by and it became more and more difficult to stay above the water. His fingers had already gone completely numb and he was fighting against a cramp in his left leg.

More than once, Mercury had to shake himself awake after almost succumbing to sleep. It would be a great help if he died for such a petty cause. Who would then look after Naina, let alone protect those around her from her out-of-control powers?

The next thing Mercury registered was some strange incoherent sounds and that he was dragged out of the water and up next to something warm. His instincts told him to get closer to the source of the warmth, so he weakly tried to cling to it, not even trying to register what that thing was.

When next Mercury detected a change, he was forcefully pried from his heat source and seemingly carried a little while, under the murmur of many a voice, before he was then laid on something soft and covered with something warm. Then darkness enveloped him again.


	14. New orders

All by myself  
Don't wanna be, all by myself anymore  
All by myself  
Don't wanna live, all by myself anymore

Which is why I am off to a meeting today on this beautiful Before Friday Thursday...well, that and because it is kind of mandatory.

* * *

**New orders**

**Mercury POV  
**When Mercury finally awoke from his slumber, the first thing that he noticed was that he was in his bed, while the second thing was that it had to be midday by now, judging from the amount of light seeping through the window.

"**How long was I out?**", Mercury asked in the Ancient language to be sure that anyone would understand, providing of course that someone was actually in his room. He had not actually checked that part yet.

"The battle occurred only yesterday, so I would not say that you have been outs for terribly long", Loivissa's voice said from what Mercury guessed to be the desk. Further examination showed her to be sitting in his chair with her legs leisurely dangled off the side of it and a book in her hands, "you were as cold as ice when I fished you up from the water, and a fewer razed within you shortly after we put you to bed. Naina took over management of the fleet's further actions afterwards".

"Of course she did, I taught her to", Mercury stated matter-of-factly, he had after all made sure that in a pinch, Naina would be able to govern a small city by herself, before he began rising from under the sheets.

"You should not get up yet", Loivissa admonished him, "the fact that you are already awake is impressive, but you should not strain yourself any further. I may have an expansive understanding of general healing magic, but I never paid much attention during the classes on how to heal so common illnesses, and since the dökkálfar consider you to be different from anything they know, they would not even attempt to heal a cut on you for fear of damaging you more than helping you, so your body has had to heal on its own".

"I feel completely fine", Mercury ignored her advice and sat up anyway, where he found himself to be only clothed in his undergarments.

Loivissa looked away with cheeks as red as her ruby eyes, as he quickly dressed in some pants and a tunic from his bedside drawer. When he pulled the tunic over his head, his feet almost gave way under him, prompting him to grab unto the drawer to keep himself standing.

"I told you not to strain yourself", Loivissa reprimanded and finally looked back at him.

"I am fine, I just stood up too quickly", Mercury blew off her warnings. In truth, his vision spun whenever he did not focus on something, his head throbbed and a tingling sensation kept running from his toes, up through his legs and spine and down into his fingers, but no need to tell Loivissa that. It would only make it that much harder to convince her to let him get up and about.

Loivissa inspected him with a critical eye, before eventually sighing, "you are going to ignore me no matter what I say, are you not?"

Mercury flashed her a toothy grin as he said, "glad that we are on the same page", before he let the grin go, as a nauseating feeling came from it, "could I get you to make some of the tea that I made for your hangover? It is in the third drawer on the right. Three pine needles should be enough for a pot".

He could really use something to help with the throbbing, and the pine-tea of The Northern Wastes was the closest thing to painkillers that he had found in his travels. Loivissa raised herself from his chair without a word and left his quarters to begin preparing the tea.

While she was away to make the tea, Mercury unceremoniously slumped himself into his comfortable leather chair and placed his hands firmly on the desk in order to keep them, and his tingling sensation, steady. Loivissa returned a little later with two cups and a pot of steaming tea.

Mercury thanked her when she poured him a cup, which he tentatively sipped at, before he set it down on the desk with a complacent sigh, "now, what became of the documents that I had with me?"

"They are still in the leather bag", Loivissa explained, "we did not actually think much of them before, as we were busy trying to respectively heat and cool you. Are you absolutely sure that you are alright? You still look quite pale".

"I am fine enough", Mercury responded, "I think that I will look the documents over tomorrow for any relevance, but could you tell me why I found you at my desk when I woke up?"

Loivissa looked a little hesitant to answer, before she eventually relented, "Naina and I have been taken shifts through the night to monitor your condition".

"I see", Mercury slowly said, almost like a whisper.

"You could have died, you know", Loivissa suddenly said loudly, "who knows what would have happened if Adûn and I had come just a few minutes later".

"I know, but I did not. Dying is a risk of war that all men, women and children cannot be spared from", Mercury answered, although he might not have formulated himself as he would have if his head could just stop spinning.

In truth, Mercury may have talked about the risk of dying in the war before, but it was only after his little dip in the water that he began considering that HE might die. It was kind of strange when considering just how many life-threatening situations that he had been in in his life, but quite a lot of time had passed since his last encounter with death, and he had apparently grown unused to the concept in that time.

Mercury dying would be a major hassle for not so few people, most importantly because it would mean that Naina's powers would go haywire and likely cause countless deaths before the cause was ever figured out.

He would have to make plans for that eventuality, but not now. Right now, he was not thinking straight enough to begin formulating such plans. It was actually kind of funny to Mercury; he was thinking straight enough to know that he was not thinking straight enough to do what he wanted to do, like a drunk man knowing that he was drunk and therefore not trusting himself to think clearly.

"What is so funny?", Loivissa asked from across the desk.

"Nothing of importance", Mercury said as he let the small grin that had unknowingly crept its way onto his features, fade away, "are we still on schedule?"

"Yes, we should arrive in The Capital within the next four days or so, according to Naina anyway", Loivissa confirmed.

"Good", Mercury said, suddenly feeling terribly drowsy without knowing the cause.

Had Loivissa just spiked his tea? A look down at his own half-empty cup and her untouched one seemed to confirm his suspicions. It quickly became increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open.

"Sorry, but you need to rest", Loivissa said apologetically from the other side of the desk, as his eyes started closing, "Naina agreed with me that it was for the best".

Mercury managed to get one last glare sent at her before his eyes finally closed and he drifted off again.

**Loivissa POV(four days later)**  
The Mirage, along with the rest of Mercury's fleet, had docked at The Capital not half an hour ago. Adûn had left before they had even docked, stating that he wished to catch up with Kilgharrah and do some 'dragon stuff', while they were busy making two-legs-small-talk.

Although Loivissa had seen on maps that the city and island did not seem to have separate names, she had not truly understood just how massive The Capital truly was. The city was the island, so to speak, as the entire coastline of the island was one big harbour with more piers and warehouses than she imagined all of Alagaësia's coastal cities had combined.

The main city however, was not immediately attached to the harbour, as it was higher up the island's natural 'hill-like' shape. The best way Loivissa could describe it was that it looked like a massive string of stone and wooden buildings had been laid in a circle at the very edge of the water around the entire island, before paved roads then ran in zigzag up the stony hill to a number of black gates engraved into a massive granite-looking wall, which seemed to encircle the gargantuan plateau that made up the centre of the island.

There was a constant flow of ships, small fishing vessels as well as large transport ships, although not as large as The Mirage, docking and leaving the port. Many dökkálfar guards could be seen constantly patrolling the piers, and a small crowd of them had gathered in front of their docked ships.

Mercury was in the middle of discussing something with them, but because they did not use the Ancient language, Loivissa did not know what. Loivissa herself was standing on the bow of The Mirage, looking out over the city.

She had originally been about to depart the ship with Mercury, but the scenery had stopped her dead in her tracks. If Loivissa was to compare it to Ilirea, she would have to say that although Ilirea had always seemed like a metropolis of a city, dwarfed only by Tronjheim, although the latter was mostly uninhabited, this city, no megalopolis, put it to shame.

It was not in that it was as beautiful as Ilirea, with its high elven towers and scenic castle atop the overhang, but more in the sense that it just seemed like so much…more, and she had not even gotten to see the inside of the walls yet. It seemed only right that no difference was ever made between the island on which it stood and the city itself.

"Impressive, is it not?", Naina's voice came from behind Loivissa.

"It is", Loivissa had to admit, "I find it almost unbelievable that something like this could be made by humans. The humans of my home have never built anything that even comes close to this".

"They might eventually", Naina said as she moved to stand next to Loivissa, "remember that only a small fleet of humans escaped to Alagaësia, while this was the home of their entire race millennia before that".

"You seem to know something about the humans' trek to Alagaësia that I do not?", Loivissa inquired.

"Yes, Mercury taught me", Naina said, as if that explained everything.

"Could you tell me then?", Loivissa tried again after a little while of silence.

"Oh, you wanted me to tell you? Sure, I can do that, but I am afraid that we will have to talk as we walk, for Mercury has just finished arranging the guarding of our ships and is waving us down", Naina said surprised.

"So, where to begin?", Naina mused out loud, as they began walking towards the upper city, "I suppose that it would be prudent to begin at the beginning, as they say. You see, this might have been the original home of the humans, but it was also so for the lethrblaka race.

Since I do not need to explain to you the nature of the lethrblaka, it should be no wonder to you that quite a lot of humans fled, or at least tried to. The lethrblaka apparently quickly learned the value of controlling their herd, so they quickly set up the beginnings of what you now know as the Ra'zac Empire.

The empire was not as it is now. A few select humans had actual power; one was even named king and made to rule over the lethrblakas' herd in their stead. That however all changed when King Palancar came to power. No one knows quite how he did it, but he somehow managed to gather a small navy of faithful followers and escape to Alagaësia.

After that, the lethrblaka cracked down hard on the remaining humans and instated their children as the new rulers, leading to the empire now actually being named The Ra'zac Empire. This among others included turning the once lush and fertile southern half of the Isle of Dread, back then named the Isle of Everspring, wherefrom King Palancar launched his navy, into the lifeless wasteland that is depicted upon modern maps.

When they had finally finished with their own herd, they set their sights on those that had escaped.

This eventually ended in what I understand you call the First Ra'zac War, as they wanted to get revenge on the one that they believed had wronged them the most. They did not expect any resistance, so when the expedition was never heard from again, they grew nervous about what might linger in Alagaësia.

After that, they set their sights on all the other humans that had managed to flee throughout history, eventually leading to the formation of the six colonies, which are the only places that The Ra'zac Empire knows that humans escaped to. According to Mercury, there are others living hidden in the far corners of the world, but they have fortunately remained undiscovered until now".

"How did Mercury find out about all of this?", Loivissa asked astounded.

"Honestly, I do not know, but I can guess that as he travelled, he began to piece together the different fragments of the stories that he was told", Naina admitted.

"True in a sense, but I read most of it in a library", Mercury's voice suddenly said from behind the two, making both women jump up in surprise.

"Do not sneak up on us like that!", Loivissa admonished.

"Sorry, but I could not help but overhear your conversation, and since you were at a loss, I thought that I might help", Mercury apologized without looking like he was the least bit sorry, "still, if I scared you that much, I am sure that you could just drug me again".

_Will he not just let that one go_, Loivissa thought, although she knew that he was now only using it as a way of teasing them, but she was far more curious than anything else, so she asked, "what library contained all of that information?"

"That one", Mercury said and pointed up towards the upper city, "but I have no wish to retell the events that led to my stay here, so do not ask about it".

When no one had any further to say, Mercury took his place between the two, with Loivissa on his right and Naina on his left. To Loivissa, it must have been a strange sight indeed to see a female dökkálfar and an elf walking next to…whatever Mercury considered himself.

As they continued their trek up, now being almost at the black gates, Loivissa noticed large rust-covered pipes sticking out a little lower than the beginning of the wall. Water seemed to pour out of most of them, but it could hardly be called anything more than a small flow.

"What are those?", Loivissa asked Mercury on her left.

"Part of the plumbing of The Capital", Mercury answered after they passed through the black gates and the dökkálfar guards posted there, "the city is not located in a flat plateau, but rather in something closer to a crater, so they had to find a way to stop it from being flooded. The pipes that you just saw are only for the gatehouses on the wall, which can also be used to pour out boiling oil at any incoming enemies. The actual drainage pipes run out near the docks".

Loivissa would have answered, if not for her attention suddenly being snapped towards the buildings surrounding them. The houses, although she could hardly call them that, were at least four stories high with windows, a door and a stair leading to every story. The buildings themselves had practically no space between them, and the only thing that defined that a new building began was the ending of the stonework.

Despite being as high as they were, the buildings were still dwarfed in height by the granite-like wall, which could have easily been twice as high as the buildings. The height of the wall unfortunately also meant that hardly any natural sunlight shone this close to the wall. It was instead lighted by many lanterns that hung from every second story in every third building and all the way along the wall.

As they slowly began making their way further and further towards the centre of the ring-walled city, the houses began looking nicer and room eventually started forming between them. They had to pass through three more ring-walls before eventually reaching the palace grounds, with the main palace in the middle of them.

Naina had broken off from their group a short while ago to attend to some personal business, whatever that meant, so Mercury and Loivissa were now completely alone.

The palace grounds were unlike any Loivissa could have imagined when she thought of the ra'zac that had had them built. Large lush green grass plains were spread out with neatly kept vineyards separating them from the small cobbled pathways that snaked through the gardens.

"A remnant from the human kings that was allowed to be preserved", Mercury remarked from beside her, "of course the grass plains have since had their purpose changed from a place for humans to sit and relax and into a place for the lethrblaka to land and take a nap".

"It is beautiful nonetheless", Loivissa declared.

"I never really thought about it, but I suppose that it is, though it can never compare to the view from the summits of the mountains in The Northern Wastes. Those can never hope to be described with any sense of justice by any painting, verbal description or even in a fairth", Mercury said fondly, as if seeing the place that he described before him at this very moment, "but though I wished that I had time to tell you of one of the greatest wonders in this world, we are already late for our meeting with the Supreme Commander".

After that, it did not take them long to pass through the many gates and hallways within the palace, which were all guarded by dökkálfar guards sporting heavy steel armour and long broadswords, until they finally emerged in what Loivissa had to guess was the throne room.

The room was quite large, even when compared to the dwarven one, with many pillars of spiralling white going through it. Its walls were made entirely out of black marble, while the floor was made of white marble. A single white throne sat at the end of the hall, and upon further inspection, the throne looked exactly like it had been crafted by the skeletons of the vile creatures' fallen enemies.

The back of the throne looked like it had been made from seven humanoid spines, and the armrests each had what looked to be a human skull at the end of them. The sides of the throne looked to have been made from broken ribs, but strangely enough, the actual seat itself was relatively flat and untouched by the morbidity that covered the rest of it.

Loivissa hardly had time to even think about the throne, before the room's sole other occupant, beside the two guards at the doors, stepped forth from behind one of the pillars. To Loivissa, he looked similar to the other dökkálfar, with his long braided silver hair, green eyes and impressive physique, but she could sense that he carried himself with a dignity that had not been there with the others aboard Mercury's fleet.

Mercury immediately made a small and not very deep bow, before he said, "**Anax Manin of House Rsuth, ruler of Dwera, Supreme Commander of the first ra'zac expedition, I, Mercury of House Iridium, Lieutenant Commander of the first ra'zac expedition, greet you and am ready to carry out your orders**".

Loivissa quickly copied his example, but with her own twist to his words, "**Anax Manin of House Rsuth, ruler of Dwera, Supreme Commander of the first ra'zac expedition, I, Lady Loivissa of House Sidhe, ruler of Eregion and apprentice to Mercury of House Iridium, greet you and am ready to follow my master to wherever you may send him**".

The Supreme Commander, or Anax Manin, as Loivissa had already dubbed him in her head, smiled wryly at the pair, before he eventually sunk into a slightly less deep bow than them and said, "**Mercury of House Iridium, Lieutenant Commander of the first ra'zac expedition and Lady ****Loivissa of House Sidhe, ruler of Eregion and apprentice to Mercury of House Iridium, I, Anax Manin of House Rsuth, ruler of Dwera, Supreme Commander of the first ra'zac expedition, greet you. You may call me Anax Manin from now on if I may address you as Lady Loivissa and Mercury**".

After both giving their consent to this, the official greeting was over. To Loivissa, the greeting was more of a statement of what I have that you do not than a greeting, especially to Mercury, who was the only one among them without any titles, as he had handed his past one over to her, although she would happily have given it back at a moment's notice.

"**So this is the dragon rider that you have been hiding from me until now. I had no idea that she would be so fragile, like a twig, but I suppose that the dragon more than makes up for its rider's flaws**", Anax Manin said rudely while scrutinizing Loivissa.

Loivissa had no doubt that if Adûn had not been away with Kilgharrah, he would have no doubt showed this being what it meant to insult a dragon's rider, but for now, she would have to make him understand on her own.

As fast as the wind, Loivissa sprinted forth and grabbed the two guards at the door and lifted them up from the ground in each of her hands, before setting them down and returning to her spot, like it had never even happened.

For a moment, Loivissa thought that she might have been in serious trouble, but then Anax Manin threw his head back and laughed, "**so Mercury did not lie when he told me not to underestimate you, but I had to see for myself, and for that, I apologize for the insult**".

"**Apology accepted if you can excuse my assault on your guards, but be glad that it was I, and not my partner-of-heart-and-mind that heard you uttering those words. He might not have been as temperate as I was**", Loivissa both excused and warned.

"**Forgive her unfortunate choice of words, for she has still got much to learn**", Mercury stepped forth and sent a glare in her direction that said as clearly as any words ever could that she should remember what he had told her a week ago.

"**There is nothing to forgive**", Anax Manin said dismissively, "**at the moment, I am more interested in hearing your full report, not just the summarized ones, of what transpired overseas than bickering about pointless things**".

So for the next hour or so, Loivissa waited patiently at the side while Mercury explained everything that had happened since he left, including his loss of magic power, though she noted that most of their conversations, starting with the one in the tower of Feinster, was either completely left out or grossly summarized.

When he had finished his tale, Mercury waited patiently as Anax Manin digested the flow of information, before he finally said, "**I see, and what did you find out from this endeavour of yours?**"

"**From the documents that I was able to salvage, I have been able to clue together that the naval force of Atkins is much lesser now than we believed it to be, especially with the seven warships that we sunk**", Mercury answered, "**I could guess to where the remaining ships have gone, but I have no proof of any theory as of yet. For now however, I would suggest that we exploit this weakness in a bid to regain control of the southern seas. Give me command over the remains of the Autumnborn navy and I believe that with Adûn and Loivissa's help, I would prevail**".

Anax Manin thought long and hard, before he eventually shook his head and said, "**that is something that I cannot do. The Autumnborn navy still licks its wounds from the failed invasion of Atkins, and I will not risk the remainder of it on this venture. If the Summerborn navy could be freed up from patrolling the Sea of Tel, I would allow it, but for the moment, I have a more important campaign to focus on. The cities must be taken for the war to be over**".

"**I agree, but what would you have me do? I control a fleet, not an army**", Mercury agreed.

"**And if that was to change, what would you do then?**", Anax Manin asked thoughtfully, "**if I told you that I had been toying with an idea for a while now, but only now became absolutely certain that it might work, would you agree to it?**"

"**That would depend on the idea**", Mercury answered equally thoughtful, and somehow, Loivissa began to imagine the two playing a verbal game of chess against each other, "**it would after all not do for me to be separated from my apprentice, and she in turn cannot be separated from her eternal companion**".

"**But they are but the frostings on a cake already baked**", Anax Manin said mysteriously, "**the dough was already made from what happened at the battle of Dread, before it was then baked in an oven across the sea**".

The two stared at each other for a long while, before Anax Manin finally relented, "**Fine! I see that I am to speak first then! To be completely frank, I am relieving you of your command as Lieutenant Commander of the navy and installing you as my new first Commander of the army. You are to immediately go south to Hydronium and take command of what remains of your new army, and your apprentice will naturally be joining you. I will then personally take command of the northern army at Ac, as well as the Winterborn navy, and begin preparing my invasion of HAc, the lesser of the bases, just as Hydronium is the lesser base when compared to Hydroxium. We will hopefully meet up in the middle within a year's time**".

"**That much we both knew long ago, now what are you not telling me?**", Mercury demanded sharply, although Loivissa had a hard time figuring out what was going on behind and in front of the curtains at the same time.

She caught Anax Manin casting a glance in her direction, which was also quickly picked up on by Mercury, "**my apprentice has my full trust**", which caused a surge of warmth to flood through Loivissa's body.

"**But not mine**", Anax Manin said, "**for this, no one but the two of us may hear**".

Loivissa kind of felt like a child being told to leave by the adults, although it did help that the two guards at the door were not allowed to stay inside either. When it became clear that it was not just a small matter of delivering some message, Loivissa and the guards eventually started to small talk and exchange stories.

After about an hour had passed, Mercury finally emerged from the double doors, looking like an entire mountain had just been laid on his shoulders.

"**Bring word to Naina that we are leaving already tonight, and make sure that Adûn knows as well**", Mercury instructed.

"**And Kilgharrah?**", Loivissa inquired.

"**He is staying for now**", Mercury answered, "**I will tell him myself when he returns**".

Looks like they were on the road again then.


	15. Much work still left

I have been thinking about something lately. Do you know when a series leaves the heroes hanging on for life in a cliffhanger? Yeah, I just realized that in more than 9/10 times, this means that the heroes will survive it. I am not kidding about this; if a series wants to kill off an important character, they always manage to do so after the halfway mark through the episode or whatever it is. Nobody ever kills off the characters at the start, which means that you can almost be sure that your heroes will survive the imminent danger of the cliffhanger, but not necessarily the dangers afterwards.

Just something that came to me while thinking about possible ways to go against what people expects to happen, not that I will necessarily use this knowledge to try and surprise you with a cliffhanger that does not indeed end well immediately after...or will I?

* * *

**Much work still left**

**Mercury POV(two days later)  
**Mercury had arrived in Hydronium just last night, but had yet to make his reason for being there public. The reason for this was quite simple; he wanted to get an unbiased view on the forces now under his command, something that he knew was not going to happen after they knew why he was here.

It was not that people did not know that he was here, but they still thought that he was an officer of the navy, who was just here to use the port, so they did not treat him as differently as they would have if he was an officer of the army.

Currently, he was walking around the camp late at night, with Naina following slightly behind. Loivissa had been told to go do something away from sight until he was done, as she would have drawn far too much attention, especially if Adûn was with her.

5.000 out of the original 25.000 dökkálfar had survived the disastrous attempt at assaulting Atkins. The Supreme Commander had only been willing to supply him with an additional 5.000 from the reserve force on the Isle of First, which should arrive within the week. Still, a force of 10.000 was nothing when compared to the previous size of the army, or if compared to what the Supreme Commander was gathering in the north.

From what he had seen so far, they had absolutely no cavalry, as no horses lived on Alalëa after all, only a limited amount of archers and, worst of all, the morale was in shambles, for good reasons too. Even when the reinforcements from the Isle of First came, the morale was not likely to improve much.

And he was supposed to not only go toe to toe with the main enemy force, which, according to intelligence, already outnumbered what he would eventually have 2 to 1, but also capture the well-defended cities on the southern coastline of the main isle? That was not going to happen as they were now.

They would need to be a whole lot better organized and efficient if that was ever going to happen, and Mercury's first point of order was to redirect the amount of paperwork that went his way. If he was to concentrate on winning this campaign, he would need to not be distracted by every petty concern and hassle in his army.

The problem was that in order to do as he wished to do, he would have to break with dökkálfar traditions. He would have to be careful in how much and how fast he broke from tradition in order to not alienate his soldiers, which was part of the reason why he kept going from campfire to campfire to talk to and listen to the regular dökkálfar soldiers there.

He needed to gauge just how desperate the men were to win; desperate men were often more willing to adopt change after all. Mercury knew that it was a fine line to walk on when you actively used the desperation of your men to force them to adapt.

If you pushed them too far, they would break or turn on you, but if they were not pushed hard enough, tradition would often win over change.

"_I__heard that you were given a new Commander. Was the old one incompetent?_", Mercury asked in the urgalgra language at his current campfire.

"_We are? Well that is news to me, but it figures that we would hear about it first from a sea-dog_", a dökkálfar said from beside Mercury, "_although I suppose that it is time to replace the one that we lost on the shores of Atkins. A bloody mess, that was_".

"_Have you heard anything else about him?_", another asked from opposite the campfire.

_And here comes the important part_, Mercury mused, but kept a straight face, as he said, "_a few things, but the one thing that I found the most interesting is that I heard that he only brought 5.000 additional men with him to reinforce this army_".

"_5.000!? You have got to be bloody kidding me!?_", the one at his side exclaimed, "_how does he think that he is going to do anything with that few?_"

"_You sea-dogs are lucky. Most of your battles are already over, and now us land-grunts have to finish this whole war with hardly any men left_", the one on the other side of the campfire commented, "_say, I heard a rumour that your fleet had been missing from the Autumnborn navy for more than two months now. Where were you?_"

"_I was on an assignment to the Ancestors' new lands to make sure that the main ra'zac army did not return to attack you land-grunts in the back_", Mercury answered, seeing as there was no point in hiding it for very long, as rumour had already begun to spread in The Capital before he had even left.

"_Picked up a souvenir on your way then?_", the one next to Mercury suggested.

"_A friend or two_", Mercury answered vaguely, before he believed enough chatter had passed to not seem suspicious to return to his preferred topic, "_I also heard a rumour on my way here that your new Commander would be trying to change the way things work in order to try and give you a fighting chance_".

"_You should not trust all the rumours that you hear. The dökkálfar have fought in the same way for thousands of years, and no Commander would ever try to change that_", the one opposite from Mercury said.

"_But you have to admit that that way has not won us all that much so far_", the one next to Mercury interjected, "_when Draumr Raschr first united the cities against their common foe, the very foe that we are fighting yet again this time, he broke with an age-long tradition too_".

"_Hmrph, I suppose that you do have a point there, but if this new guy tells me to begin sitting on some overgrown goat and expect me to fight from it, I am out of here_", the one opposite of Mercury said, which quickly gained grunts of recognition among the others around the campfire.

_So trying to form a cavalry with the horses here is not an option that they are willing to comply with, but they do seem to be willing to conform to some changes, as long as they do not differ too greatly from their norms_, Mercury mused as he kept quiet. It was far more informative for him to only lead them to the subject and then remain in the shadows, than playing an active part in it.

"_I just heard from my cousin that is stationed at The Capital, that our new commander will be a sea-dog officer of some kind_", a newcomer said.

"_A sea-dog? What is he going to do? Have us fight with his precious ballistae instead of our swords?_", the one next to Mercury jested, which gained the laugh of not so few people.

_An interesting idea, but I am afraid that the navy needs its ballistae for its own purposes, but if siege equipment could be procured elsewhere, it would solve some of my archery-problems_, Mercury mused, _however much I wish to find out more from this group, the newcomer's rumour will have them suspicious of me soon enough, so I better leave before anyone puts two and two together_.

And so it went that Mercury silently disappeared back into the black night to find a new source of information among the countless of campfires that roared in the camp outside of the city of Hydronium. He only managed to continue gathering information for an hour and a half more, before the rumour that a naval officer was taking over had eventually spread too much for him to continue.

After eventually bidding Naina goodnight and retiring to his new command tent, a large red one with silver embroidery running down the hem of it that had previously belonged to the now deceased Supreme Commander, Mercury found that Loivissa had somehow managed to sneak inside undetected by even the guards outside.

"Did you learn anything useful?", Loivissa asked nonchalant from her position spread out on the covers of his bed, either accidentally or purposely entangling them and messing up the rest of the bed.

"Plenty", Mercury said simply without a second glance at the state of his bed, as he strode purposefully towards the map of the southern half of the main isle that was spread out across a table in the middle of the tent, "but how to put it to use will be more difficult".

The map detailed the location of cities, roads and the approximate terrain around them, while figurines depicted their own troops as well as the enemy's projected positions. Right now, the enemy force was thought to be all the way back at Terzigno, near the volcano, which would mean that he had some time before they would reach him, but the lethrblaka figurines in the army would definitely be able to traverse the distance much quicker if need be.

Now what to do? If he intended to transform his army as he had envisioned, he would need a considerate amount of time to retrain them, and in that time, the enemy army might begin its march on him, thereby preventing him from gathering an important part of the machinery after his army was finally done retraining.

Then again, the enemy could also use that time to build up their own strength. It would not be too hard of a stretch to imagine that they would want to further increase their superiority if they could, at least as long as they did not perceive him as a threat yet. After that, he would not be likely to get a breather if they could help it.

But could he gamble on them acting this way? He would essentially be trapping his army if the enemy marched immediately, rather than waited, but if he did not do it, then his army would almost inevitably be crushed anyways, due to the missing components, but then again, the longer he allowed the enemy to build up strength, the harder it would be for him to win later.

It was yet another fine line to walk; tarry for too long and the enemy became too strong to handle, but rush the reformation too much and the enemy might not need that extra strength to beat him. What to do then?

"If you stare at the figurines any harder, they might burst into flames", Loivissa jested from slightly behind his ear, making Mercury start in surprise at the sudden intrusion upon his personal space.

"I see two options before me, but I like neither", Mercury quickly squashed down his discomfort at the proximity and said in a neutral tone, "the first one is safer at first, but is then almost akin to waiting for a miracle to happen in order to win the long-term campaign, while the second one puts the short-term campaign in danger in favour of acquiring the means to win the long-term one".

"I never understood military strategies back home, but would it not be better to gamble upon winning, rather than safely loosing?", Loivissa advised, "why are you even asking me this when you have already decided upon your chosen path?"

"I needed some confirmation that I was making the right choice", Mercury admitted, "I am going to need both you and Adûn by my side tomorrow morning".

"You know that we always will be", Loivissa's voice faded as she slowly exited the tent without making any other sound, leaving Mercury to sort out her last statement.

_I wonder what in the world has made her trust me so_, Mercury mused, _I know that if I met a person like me, I certainly would not trust him, especially not after already having been manipulated once by said person. I might work with him, if our goals happened to coincide, but I doubt that I would ever fully trust him, and certainly never bind my will to his every whim in the Ancient language_.

Mercury spent another few minutes pondering this curiosity, as he had every night since leaving Alagaësia behind, but as usual, he could not come up with a suitable explanation. He had considered all aspects equally, including love, but none of them seemed a strong enough reason for this level of trust. It was completely unlike with Adûn, which Mercury knew, to the point of almost being certain without asking him directly, that he was only here because Loivissa was.

Love was flimsy and not something to base your opinions on, and even if she had been infatuated with him when he left eight decades ago, she would certainly have moved past that by now, which reminded Mercury that he needed to ask her why she had not found a mate and had a child of her own by now. It had seemed like one of her greatest wishes back then.

Gratefulness was an equally unlikely candidate, especially because he had never given her anything to warrant this kind of gratitude. His 'saving' of her eight decades ago had been equally about getting revenge, and had in the end nearly cost Loivissa her life, and even leaving everything he owned in Alagaësia to her had been more like an apology than a gift. Even if she somehow felt gratitude towards him, it would never amount to anything near this amount.

Her wish to protect others had been scrapped pretty early on. It would after all kind of limit her ability to do so if she was able to be forcefully overruled at every turn.

Loyalty had seemed a prime candidate at first, but then Mercury had begun considering that before this trip, they had not spent more than a few short months together, in which he had tried manipulating her. It was hardly anything to warrant undying loyalty, even if it was at a vulnerable stage of her development.

Hate…had been an amusing emotion to figure out how one could possible justify binding your will to someone you hated that much, unless you intended to stab them in the back when they least expected it, but Loivissa had never seemed the type to even contemplate assassination as a viable option. She was too honourable and untainted to do so.

He had tried to dissect and examine all the emotions that he could think of, both 'good' and 'bad', though Mercury did not personally distinguish between the two, as any emotion in his experience could be used for any purpose with enough convincing, and he had on occasion tried to mix them, but no matter what he tried, he still came up empty.

The entire thing had started out as something of a curiosity search for Mercury, but had later begun developing into an amusing ritual late at night; amusing in the same sense as a puzzle was. He did not know why, but it had already ingrained itself so firmly into his daily rhythm that he had a hard time falling asleep if he did not consider at least a few scenarios to explain Loivissa's behaviour.

Mercury had tried briefly discussing the subject with Kilgharrah when he had talked to him two days ago, but the damn dragon had merely chuckled and told him that he would have to figure it out for himself. Such a statement would usually have meant that love was the answer, if not for the fact that he had already tried out a dozen different failed scenarios with love as their focal point.

_Hrmph, it seems like it will not be tonight either_, Mercury snorted, _but it is just a matter of time before I figure this out. Every day that passes means that more pieces to the puzzle are given to me by Loivissa_.

It was true, Mercury had been watching Loivissa's mannerisms ever since she had first boarded The Mirage, as he did with everyone around him in an effort to both better understand them and their motives in order to better get along with them, as well as the not so altruistic sentiment of looking for potential future threats to both himself and those that he wished to protect.

Anyway, it was late already late and Mercury still had to have time tomorrow morning to write the speech that was to both outline his changes and make sure that people understood the necessity of them. Sometimes, Mercury almost felt blessed by the insomnia that had plagued him for slightly more than two centuries, if not for the fact that he had to use meditation techniques almost daily in order to make up for the lost REM-sleep. Still, meditating for an hour a day to replace four to five hours of sleep was a still a gain.

**Time skip(later that morning)  
**Mercury was currently standing just out of view from the gathered army that stood in front of the improvised podium that had been made by the dökkálfar to entertain themselves with plays and so on. Naina was by his left side, Loivissa was on his right and Adûn was flying in circles above them, drawing quite a few gazes, as more than one had discovered that, although Kilgharrah was known to be able to change the colour of his scales at will, this was not him.

His speech was ready and memorized, or as ready as it would be, considering that Mercury could have spent from now and until the end of time going over it and adjusting it. He never really had been that great at inspiring a crowd, but give him enough time and resources and he was confident that he would be able to turn even the most spiteful person into someone that would give his undying loyalty to Mercury.

Still, crowds were another thing entirely, and it did not help that his preferred method of crowd control primarily revolved around using fear to get them to do what he wanted them to do, not a very prudent long-term strategy, although it was in a sense what he had planned on using now.

"You are going to be fine", Loivissa tried reassuring him.

"And if nothing else, then just think of zur urz nac fatul", Naina continued.

"Yeah, thanks", Mercury grumbled, although he was grateful for their support.

Mercury then began ascending the stairs leading up to the podium, Loivissa and Naina trailing slightly behind him. The moment that he came into view, all chatter immediately stopped. Then it resumed, albeit in a more shushed manner than previously.

"Most of them think that you are here to represent the Autumnborn navy, and that they are about to be swapped out with another army", Loivissa heard, thanks to her elven hearing, and whispered into Mercury's ear.

_Time to crush that belief_, Mercury thought grimly, before he reached the centre of the podium and loudly said, "**if everyone could be quiet, I am here to tell your future**", perhaps a bit theatrical, but it managed to gain the undivided attention of the crowd.

"**Some of you may know me, many of you may know of me, but for those that do not, let me introduce myself and my companions**", Mercury continued, "**On my right, we have the Lady Loivissa of House Sidhe, an elven dragon rider from the country of Alagaësia that has agreed to aid us in our struggles. She has agreed to become my apprentice and should therefore be treated as you would myself.**

**On my left is Naina Uluth. She, as some of you may know, is my personal aide de camp, and she will be representing me in many a matter, so pay your respects to her. Above us is the dragon known as Adûn. Loivissa is his rider and life-long companion, and if any of you have ever met Kilgharrah, you know what to expect. If you have not, find someone that has.**

**I am Mercury Iridium, former Lieutenant Commander of the Autumnborn navy, and your new Commander**".

Mercury allowed a small pause after this to let them digest what he had just told them, which quickly escalated into less than hushed whispering among the crowd. From what he could make out, most of them would have thought it a joke if not for his use of the Ancient language.

"**I have been ordered to take the southern half of the main isle with you and 5.000 fresh recruits from the Isle of First**", Mercury continued before any interjections could be made, "**I would like for you to understand two things about me; I will not lie to you, but I will not sugar-coat our situation either. If we continue the way that you are used to with our limited numbers, the enemy's superior numbers and their homeland advantage will eat us one bit at a time until there is no one left.**

**That is why I am, effective immediately, restructuring the entire army. I will be breaking with tradition, I will be asking you to rethink the way that you fight, and I will be expecting you to come out strong enough that armies will flee from your mere presence, that ra'zac will break and run to their parents after you engage them in battle and that the lethrblaka themselves will turn tail and flee when they play witness to your might**".

Another small pause for dramatic effect, before Mercury continued, "**from this moment on, the previous hierarchy ceases to exist. In its place, I present to you a new one; every member of this army will, by the end of this day, have found one buddy, called his frater. This frater will become closer to you than your own siblings, and you will guard his back as he guards yours. You will eat with your frater, train with him, celebrate with him and sleep next to him until each of you knows what your frater is about to do before he does it.**

**After everyone has teamed up, five pairs will go together and form the next tier. This group will be your new family, you Decan, and they will be the ones that you drill with and spend your time with. As each family has a family head, so does yours. I ask that in this family, you find one person to lead you into battle. He must be someone that you trust, someone that knows how to sort out trouble within your Decan and his primary role in battle will be to keep track of and switch out his Frater-pairs to ensure that no single pair becomes too fatigued or separated from the Decan, while his role outside of battle will be to maintain order within his Decan and make sure that their needs are met. His title will be Decanus, and he will appoint a second-in-command within the squad that is to resume his duties if the Decanus should fall.**

**50 Decans will form one Centurion, headed by a Centurinus, whose primary role in battle shall be to make my command staff's orders become reality. They will be doing this by ordering their Decans to advance, retreat or hold their ground, making sure that no Decan ever gets worn down completely. Outside of battle, these will be the ones that organize supplies to each Decan, as well as sorting out grudges between the Decans under their command. The Centurinus also have a second-in-command, whose role shall be largely the same as for the Decanus'.**

**I will be interviewing candidates for the Centurinus-positions after the Centurions have formed. All are welcome to try out for this position, but you must fulfil all of the criteria that will be displayed on a poster later this afternoon. Let me make myself clear on this; if you were a previous Lieutenant Commander, you are not guaranteed to become a Centurinus. Everyone will be judged equally upon their skills, experience and general leadership qualities.**

**That is all for now. You are all dismissed**", there, he had done it, and now it would either float or sink. Either they would see the necessity of his changes or they would revolt and demand a new leader.

Mercury stayed on the podium for a short while more, just enough to show them that he was not cowed in any way by their stares of incredulousness, before he punched his chest with his right fist, signalled his two followers and slowly made his way off of the stage.

After he had returned to his command tent, Mercury unceremoniously slumped in a nearby chair, before he asked the two women that had followed him inside, "so, how did I do?"

"I think that they will be hesitant at first, but after a few close friends start teaming up, as they usually do in battle, the rest will soon follow in an avalanche effect", Naina advised, "after that first step has been taken, the remaining will seem less difficult to conform to".

Mercury nodded at her advice, before he turned his attention to Loivissa, who looked like she was thinking hard on something. He let her be for the moment, as he would rather hear her undisturbed conclusions than be impatient.

"It might work, although you both would know more about dökkálfar customs than I", Loivissa finally said, "but I did stumble upon something that you said. The frater-system, as you called it, seems to me to kind of resemble the bond between a dragon and its rider?"

"Where do you think that I got my inspiration", Mercury said unfazed, "the reason behind the dragon riders' success is not just their superior magic, training or the power of their dragon, but rather the fact that they are so synchronized that they never have to doubt that someone watches their backs, and therefore are less likely to be killed from a blind spot".

"And the new hierarchy?", Loivissa continued to inquire.

"Primarily formed to avoid having to micromanage every single soldier on the battlefield to optimal efficiency", Mercury explained, "this way, the micromanaging will be spread out enough that no one really loses focus on the battle as a whole, which should improve the overall efficiency of the army. Think about it; if the system performs as described, then the men would constantly be switched out with fresh ones, instead of the current one where everyone charges or rests at the same time.

It also has the added benefit of diverting much of the paperwork required to run this army away from me, so that I can focus on the bigger picture. You saw how much paperwork I had when I was still just a Lieutenant Commander".

"I hope that you are right", Loivissa said with a sigh, "but I would also like to know what measures you have taken to protect your own person? I think that you should form a guard dedicated only to protecting you both in and out of battle".

"I agree with that", Naina butted in, "now that you are the leader of this army, the enemy will be targeting you personally in an effort to cause chaos and confusion".

"The Supreme Commander and I already discussed the necessity of this earlier, where we agreed with your assessments, but I would like to wait a little before changing things further", Mercury agreed, "we are going to be stuck here for a while in order to allow the men to retrain, but I will eventually be forming the Varangian Guard for this very purpose".

Mercury had originally thought of calling it the Praetorian Guard, but had ultimately decided not to, based upon their notoriously bad reputation at protecting the roman emperors at the time. The killings of multiple emperors and betrayal of others in favour of their better paying enemies was not a Guard that Mercury would like to think of every time he saw his new bodyguards-to-be.

"So for now, we wait?", Loivissa inquired.

"No, now, we prepare", Mercury corrected, "there is much work still left".


	16. Moving out

**Moving out**

**Loivissa POV  
**It had been nearly one month since Mercury started reforming his army. The reinforcements had come on schedule a week later, but since half the army had already begun conforming to the new system by then, their introduction had not been as hard to shallow for them as it had been for the first half. After all, they knew that they were reinforcing another army and might have to conform to their customs.

The training had been quite intense, as it had to be in order to make everyone comfortable with the drills before actual battle commenced. They had had to first of all get comfortable within their new Decans and with their fraters, although comfortable had apparently been degraded to knowing who was who and where they belonged, and then have their Centurinus's and Decanus's, as well as their second-in-commands, appointed.

Then the actual drills had started, in which Mercury had put the first batch of officers through what he called 'one week's intensive training', which apparently meant that sleep was a luxury that was denied them until they knew the entire curriculum of the day and that for all the previous days, as well as they knew the names of their own parents.

He had literally been breathing down their necks the entire week, but when it was finally over, they certainly did know how and when to change out their respective Decans or members of that Decan to minimize chance of unnecessary losses, and how the drills worked and when to deploy them.

Then half of these officers had begun training the remaining untrained ones, while the other half had begun drilling the regular Decans and Centurions. To Loivissa, as well as the dökkálfar, it was a completely new way of conducting warfare.

She had always been used to their leaders telling them that this and that group attacked there until the enemy either fled or they themselves had to retreat, but these drills involved everything from one-word-commands that would instantly make every Decan know that an arrow barrage was incoming and then form close-knit formations with their shields overlapping both in front of and atop the Decan to provide a better combined protection, to other commands that for example could be a step-by-step-constant-fight withdrawal from an engagement.

Luckily, Loivissa had not had to take part in that training, as she was an irregular unit that would not be wasted as a regular soldier; Mercury's words, not her own. She was not entirely sure what to think of all the changes that Mercury made. Yes, they looked very well in theory and on the relative quiet of the training grounds, but would they work in actual battle?

Loivissa knew that in battle, nothing was as clean and efficient as it seemed outside of battle, and people might forget important instructions in a battle, which might then render the entire formation useless if enough forgot or was otherwise hindered from doing so. But she supposed that she would just have to wait and see.

Currently, she was lounging on Mercury's bed in his command tent. She had long ago found that place to be far more comfortable than any of the chairs in here. That did not however mean that she would be caught dead in said bed by anyone not Mercury or Naina, as whenever his officers or someone else was present within the tent, she often either stood at attention behind Mercury, which was mainly done when the visitor was not all that friendly, or sat in a corner just out of view and observed.

Loivissa had just finished her morning flight with Adûn not an hour ago, and was now in the midst of trying to learn the urgal language, the first tongue of the dökkálfar, as Mercury had advised her that it would be wise of her to learn it, so that she did not constantly need a translator to help keep her up to speed.

She could see the wisdom in that, which was why she had agreed with very little hesitance, but she did find a fault in his teaching method; he tossed her his translation book from urgal to Ancient, made by himself, and expected her to learn it from that while he was free to do other stuff.

Learning a new language was hard enough, but learning it from a book was excruciatingly difficult, although it was made easier by Mercury having written how it was supposed to sound when written in the dwarven runes, as well as a short description of the word, right next to the spelling of said word in the dökkálfar alphabet. That was not to say that Mercury or Naina would not practise with her and correct her enunciation once in a while, but it was still a long way from learning it from an actual person.

Loivissa doubted that she would ever learn how to write or read the words, as the dökkálfar alphabet was a strange one to replicate with its many forms and twists, but she hoped that she would at least get to understand the spoken language.

While Loivissa practised asking for directions, Mercury was busy doing some paperwork by his desk, while Naina was off settling a dispute between two Centurions. Loivissa knew that Mercury was expecting a scrying from Anax Manin sometime soon, not that it affected her current position in any way.

Mercury had positioned the mirror so that, even though a partition was enclosed around his bed when he slept, the occupant of the mirror never had a clear view towards it, meaning that Loivissa was free to lounge around without any concern that she might be caught, especially since Mercury explicitly told his new Varangian Guard that no one was to enter without knocking or being called first.

He even went so far as to state that he did not care if the camp was on fire, if you did not knock, he would assume you to be an assassin and deal with you appropriately. So far, no one had not knocked.

Loivissa had just finished finding the word for kitchen, when Mercury's mirror sprang to life, evidenced by the sudden removal of paper and quill by Mercury, before he started the customary greeting.

As soon as that was out of the way, Anax Manin started, surprisingly in the Ancient language, "**are we alone?**", which Mercury quickly denied as she was in the room, before Anax Manin continued, "**I have received reports that you are changing the dökkálfar way of conducting warfare**".

"**You told me that I had free reign to accomplish my objective with what was given to me**", Mercury simply stated.

"**Yes I did, but I did not expect you to waste an entire month playing**", Anax Manin said in a harsher tone than Loivissa had ever heard him use, "**how am I to do my part when you are not doing yours? I need you to take something, anything, I do not really care what, and make it soon**".

"**I had not planned on beginning my march before another week or two**", Mercury argued, "**doing so early might jeopardize my entire force, as they might not be acclimated enough with the new system to function properly in either the old or the new one**".

"**Soldiers learn best on the battlefield. Move out immediately, that is an order**", Anax Manin overruled Mercury, but before he signed off, he made one last comment, as if just remembering it now, "**and do not exceed the parameters by which I have given you command**".

"**I understand**", Mercury said compliantly before the conversation was cut, and to Loivissa, a slightly darker appearance then suddenly settled on his features, though she was not sure whether others would notice.

"I assume that you heard", Mercury stated, not asked, "it means that a lot of my plans, including some for you, will have to be moved forward as well".

"What plans?", Loivissa asked in clear reference to the ones pertaining to her.

"One was to have you outfitted with an actual armour, as the concealed travel armour of the dragon riders is not really suitable for a prolonged warfare, but now I suppose that you will have to just have your measurements taken now and then hope that it fits when we return", Mercury answered, making Loivissa wonder how she had never thought of that, "although another one would have to be done on the impending march, which reminds me that I need to speak with you about that one".

"What is it about?", Loivissa asked sceptically.

"Remember when we talked about Naina's gift and what was to happen if it was ever suddenly released?", Mercury started, and continued after a silent nod from Loivissa, "for a while now, I have been considering what were to happen if I were to suddenly die".

"You are not going to die", Loivissa stated as sure as she was that the moon would rise again at night.

"I might. This is war and no one is really safe in a war", Mercury echoed a previous conversation between the two, "that is why I would like to request, not order, you to do something for me in that advent. With your permission, I would like for you to lock Naina's powers away as well, but so that your contribution would not take effect before mine disappears.

That is to prevent the immediate threat from Naina's gift upon my death, but after that, I would like for you to transport her to the dragon rider city of Estildirin, where you can then decide if you would like to teach her how to control her gift or not. The choice of city is primarily based upon the fact that many that are immune to her gift resides there. Think carefully before you answer, as it is a huge responsibility to undertake".

Loivissa completely stopped for a moment as the scale of his request settled on her; he was asking her to not only possibly live without her magic, at least until she had taught Naina how to control her ability, but to take responsibility for the possibly most dangerous, even more so than Elva had ever been, individual that the world had ever known.

It was not that she would have minded taking care of Naina as a person if, and she was sure that such a thing would never occur, Mercury was to die, but the secret that Naina carried within her, unknown even to herself, would she really be ready to take care of that as well?

_Mercury has done so for over 22 years_, a small voice within her argued.

_Yes, but I am not him_, Loivissa argued back.

_No, according to everyone that knows the two of you, you are supposed to be more compassionate and less ruthless than him_, the voice continued, _then how is it that he is willing to take care of a young girl, despite her flaws, when he could have much more easily killed her, but you are not?_

_He did it because he felt guilty about what he did to Elva_, Loivissa tried arguing back, although she felt guilty for even mentioning it within her own head.

_So you would kill her then, if the roles were reversed? You have no such guilt weighing on your shoulders_, the voice asked sounding mad somehow, _because that is the only other choice that you have. Kill her after he is dead or take care of her until she knows how to do so herself. He made one choice, will you make the other?_

…_No_, Loivissa finally relented.

_Which means…_, the voice continued.

_That I will take care of her_, Loivissa made her resolution, before she looked Mercury directly in the eyes and said, "I will do it, but I hope that it never comes to pass".

"I understand", Mercury acknowledged with a small nod.

"So how will this work?", Loivissa asked now curious, before trying a jest, "will I need to sacrifice some blood on the talisman or something?"

"Hehe no, that will not be necessary", Mercury laughed, "it is a simple matter of binding you to the talisman as an addition upon my own spell, Naina will not even notice the addition, but because I need it to only take effect at a certain time and not interact at all with my own spell, I have had to work on changing the original wording to one that fits, and since I am not done yet, we will have to do it on the march.

That being said, you will probably have to do the actual spell alone and in a warded room, as it requires your True Name to be said in order to bind you to the talisman, and I am sure that neither of us would like for your True Name to be known by others".

"That, we agree upon", Loivissa confirmed, before she was then sent to find Naina and tell her to get the officers to prepare to march.

**Time skip(11 days later)  
**The army had only taken 2 days of preparation after being told to move out, before their march actually begun, an impressing feat when considering the size of the army and the supplies that it needed. They had then marched north to Tel Noach with most of the army, while leaving a garrison behind in Hydronium to guard their rear.

Mercury had told Loivissa that he needed to capture Tel Noach first for three primary reasons;  
1: it was an important fishing city that would be able to supply food to both his army and The Capital, which apparently was beginning to run low on its own stores.

2: capturing it would remove a threat from their backs when they eventually marched west.

3: Mercury needed the city's siege engines for his own army, and when Loivissa had asked him why he did not just take Hydronium's instead, he had said that that city was far more exposed and still needed its defences intact, while Tel Noach was more safely located with Hydronium guarding the only land-way to it, while the Summerborn navy guarded the Sea of Tel.

They had actually come quite far in Loivissa's opinion, having travelled with an average speed of roughly 50 km per day for the past 9 days, while expecting to reach Tel Noach later this very day. She supposed that it was thanks to both the massive amount of strength, speed and endurance that the dökkálfar possessed, as well as the massive paved highway that lined their way.

The road was unlike any in Alagaësia in its size, length and quality. It had a width of 4 metres, went all the way from the southern tip of the main isle to the northern tip without break, which gave it a length of at least 6-7000 km in the most direct line, without counting its many detours to other cities or the similar road system on the other isles, and Loivissa was pretty sure that if she were to lay a ball on the road at any given point during the trip so far, the ball would not roll to any side even the slightest.

All in all, it was quite an impressive road system, and when she compared it to the almost non-existent one of Alagaësia, she wondered how people and caravans ever got from city to city back home, and that was said by someone who did not even use the road at all, instead choosing to fly with Adûn the entire way.

Mercury on the other hand had chosen to ride a white horse that he had procured in Hydronium, which drew the attention of not so few dökkálfar, although their attention switched whenever Loivissa came near them on Adûn, but if Mercury was to keep up with their marching speed, he would need a horse.

Adûn did not always fly, as they sometimes chose to walk next to Mercury on the way there, as they were right now.

"Mercury, these roads, they are amazing. How were they built?", Loivissa asked something that had been on her mind for a while.

"Through the hard labour of thousands and thousands of slaves over a decade", Mercury stated completely unfazed, "it was a vanity project for the now dead lethrblaka overlord's great grandfather, simply to show that he could do it, but they have since become vital for trade and army movements".

"That is terrible!", Loivissa shrieked, before a thought struck her, "are there still slaves here today?"

"Yes, the lethrblaka and their offspring never considered humans to be anything more than their herd, so they never bothered if one owned the other, since all still belonged to them, although they did put quite a heavy tax on the market to get some gold out of it", Mercury answered simply, "quite a few slaves are in fact hard at work in The Capital, and most other major cities, as we speak".

"You did not free them?!", Loivissa asked angrily.

"The entire country is in the middle of a war the like of which it has not seen since possibly ever. We had enough trouble getting the citizens of the cities to calm down after we took them to even consider stirring up any new reasons for them to start trouble", Mercury shrugged, "we really cannot do much before the populace either calms down or when we do not have to battle the lethrblaka army anymore. This is actually one of the easier of the hard decisions that I told you about before we got here".

"I suppose that you are right", Loivissa hesitantly admitted, though she did not like it one bit.

No one said anything for a while after that, choosing instead to travel in companionable silence as the countryside slowly drifted past them. The Sea of Tel could be seen both not too far to their left and if you looked closely at the horizon to their right.

Loivissa had to admit that the country was beautiful with its lush green foliage, golden fields of wheat and azure sea that could be seen almost no matter where you lived in it, as far as the maps told her anyway, and the only thing that seemed to mar that beauty was the ra'zac and their evil influence.

"Does it ever snow here?", Loivissa wondered aloud, not really meaning to actually ask about it. She knew that it had to be winter by now back home in Alagaësia, and yet even the wheat fields still stood in full bloom here on this island.

"No, it is too far south and has too much water around it for that", Mercury explained, "but neither is it as hot as it could be this far south, again thanks to the seas surrounding the isles on all sides".

"The thing about it being south, I understand", Loivissa said, as she had indeed noticed back in Alagaësia that the further south you came, the warmer the climate, "but why does the fact that there is so much water around it mean anything?"

"It is a general rule of thumb that the closer you are to large quantities of water, the more temperate the temperature will be in both matters hot and cold", Mercury elaborated, "for example, remember how the coastline near Teirm never freezes during winter? That is because it is so close to the sea, but if you move further inland, it gets both hotter and colder in accordance with the season, and how far south or north that you are, than it would have closer to the sea.

That is why these islands, despite being located so that they could have made one hell of a desert if given the right conditions, have instead turned out to be a place with hardly any difference between winter and summer".

Despite having just been told something that would make a lot of heads turn back home, Loivissa still thought that it seemed like Mercury was not telling her all that he knew about the subject, but since it was not all that important a subject and that she believed that Mercury had good reasons to limit his explanation, she chose to let it slide.

They were once again about to fall into the companionable silence, but since Loivissa was slightly bored, while Adûn was highly bored and did not want his only source of respite to stop, he prompted her to ask Mercury something, anything really, to keep the conversation going.

"Why did you take a white horse, where those not expensive?", Loivissa asked. She did not really know what to say and since they had just talked about snow and his horse was white, that had been the first thing to come to mind.

"Not really", Mercury shrugged, "besides, I found it fitting, now that I am on my way to pick up my bow".

_Huh? Does he mean the siege equipment?_, Loivissa asked Adûn.

_I do not know, dear_, Adûn answered, _but unless you can find something of interest to talk about within the next minute, I am going flying_.

A minute passed and when Loivissa had still not found a way to continue the conversation without it seeming forced, Adûn took off. Hard. Without warning and with a gust that threatened to knock Mercury's horse over, and did in fact knock a few dökkálfar off their feet.

Loivissa's first instinct was to turn back and apologize, but since she was not the one that controlled where they went and that she in a backwards glance saw Mercury already in the midst of doing just that to the somewhat disgruntled crowd that had gathered around him, she ended up not doing so.

Adûn and Loivissa flew together, chatting and simply enjoying the feeling of the wind under Adûn's wings, until noon finally came and the army reached Tel Noach. It was only then that they decided to land again, although quite a lot more carefully than they had taken off.

When they landed next to Mercury, he was in the midst of issuing orders while pointing on a map of the countryside surrounding Tel Noach and towards the actual countryside. Unfortunately, he was giving out orders in the urgal language, so Loivissa only understood a few snippets of what was said.

The few words of importance that she did recognize were: tree, wall, circle, ship and wait.

Instead of trying to guess what was meant by that, if she even managed to get the translation right, Loivissa chose to just ask the source, "what did you say?"

"I told them that I wanted them to cut down the trees of that forest over there and build a palisade encircling the city, so that if they try to charge us, we will be the ones with the defences, while the Summerborn navy agreed to continue stopping all vessels going into or out of Tel Noach, as they have been doing for the past month", Mercury explained.

"I thought that I heard 'wait' as well?", Loivissa questioned, "are you planning on waiting them out, and if so, then why? I thought you said that this city was not very well defended?"

"Yes, my plan essentially revolves around besieging them and forcing them to surrender", Mercury said in a slightly rushed tone, like he wanted to be done as quickly as possible but kept himself in check, "it is not a very nice way of taking a city, starving it into submission, but we do not have any siege engines to back us up, and I will not lose unnecessarily many troops taking this city because of impatience. I had not originally planned to move out until in a few days, and even then, I would still have had the time to force them into submission and get back to confront the ra'zac army that has just left Terzigno. Plus, I need the siege engines of the city to be intact, and that might not happen by trying to storm it".

"Fine, fine, I get it", Loivissa tried placating him, as he was apparently swamped up in the work of organizing such a massive palisade to be built.

_It looks like we will be staying here for a while_, Loivissa commented to Adûn.

_At least it has a nice view_, Adûn, always finding the brightness in every situation, responded.

* * *

First of all, I would like to note that the roads are not really as picture perfect as described, but given the time and the(from my understanding) poor road system of Alagaësia, Loivissa's observations about the roads have naturally been exaggerated.


	17. Waiting is the hard part

**Waiting is the hard part**

**Loivissa POV(four weeks into the siege)  
**It had been four weeks since Mercury began his siege of Tel Noach, and the city, as well as Mercury's army, still remained in the exact same condition that they were in to begin with.

On the first day after setting up camp and arranging patrols to guard the construction of his palisade, Mercury had ridden out in front of the city, boldly proclaimed that as soon as they were willing to surrender, everyone could go back to the way things were without any pillaging or anything vile being done to them and that no more offerings would have to be made to the ra'zac and lethrblaka.

They had not given up, not that anyone had expected them to, since construction of the palisade was already underway, and Mercury had never again uttered a word or sent as much as a letter to the city's administration. "They know my terms", he had said when Loivissa had asked him about it.

The palisade had been finished about a week after its construction had begun. It consisted mainly of two rows of eight metre long wooden stakes, where three of said metres where firmly dug into the ground, that had about a metre or so between the rows. The gap had then been filled with compressed dirt until the there was only two metres between the new floor and the top of the stakes.

The height of these battlements went above Loivissa's head, but since she was not among the ones expected to patrol the wall, those being the significantly taller dökkálfar, it did not matter, not that any fighting had actually been done between the city's guards and Mercury's army.

So for now, they were waiting for the enemy to surrender, which in Mercury's head meant that everyone not on active patrol duty could just go right back to training drills. Unfortunately for Loivissa, Mercury had assigned her to be his new Varangian Guard's new swordsmanship instructor, which meant that her time was now evenly split between training them until they could hardly stand, and then some more for good measure as Mercury's life would be in their hands after all, and playing the part as Mercury's apprentice during important meetings, as well as his very unofficial personal mage.

The only time of day that she even had a chance for some private free time was during the evenings when Mercury for one reason or another had no official need of her, although many an evening were still spent in his command tent after Naina and Loivissa had had dinner with him, which had almost become an unofficial new tradition among the three.

To be honest, Loivissa did not feel all that well lately. She knew perfectly what the reason for this was; the thought of starving an entire city to surrender made her stomach growl in protest whenever she tried to eat anything.

It was not a nice way to take a city, as Mercury had so simply put it, and although Loivissa knew why this was necessary; Mercury did not wish to waste his own soldiers' lives, and thereby increase the overall chance of losing the entire war, when he was in no rush to take the city, she still found the mere thought of it revolting.

This feeling had only intensified after what happened a few days ago.

A few days ago, the city's military leadership had opened their gates and begun sending the citizens out into the no man's land between their stone walls and Mercury's wooden ones, but although the citizens were being forced out, every guardsman still remained inside.

No words had been spoken by the city's military leadership, but the message was clear; if you care about the citizens, let them through your walls and give them food.

Loivissa had witnessed men, women and, worst of all, children that were hardly anything more than skin and bone, begging and pleading for food. It had been heart-wrenching to watch and listen to, but Mercury had insisted that she watch, as he had said that since she was his apprentice, he would not try to hide the horrors of war from her with pretty illusions of nobility among enemies and honour on the battlefield.

Despite that most of the dökkálfar did not understand the spoken language of the natives, their meaning had been all too clear to everyone, but although quite a few, Loivissa included, had been just about to throw whatever rations that they themselves had left, down to the starved masses, Mercury had stopped them immediately upon seeing their intended actions.

He had banned everyone from giving any food, even going so far as to deploy his new Varangian Guard to keep the dökkálfar wanting to give out food down from the palisade, and in the end the citizens had been forced to return back to their city with nothing more than they came with, although not quite true as Loivissa had managed to sneak a loaf of bread into the hands of a young starved child when no one was looking, and without Mercury ever having spoken a word to any of them.

Mercury's explanation of the events later that night, over dinner nonetheless; it had been a battle of wills between him and the city's military leaders. If he had given in and given them food, not only would they have been able to last much longer and make it possible for the main ra'zac force to reach Hydronium before they could get back, but it would also have shown to them that even if he kept the siege up from now and until the end of time, they would never have to really be afraid of dying of starvation.

Loivissa had understood his reasons, even agreed with the logic in them after having calmed down from her initial fury at his actions, but she had still not been able to eat anything that night after seeing the starved people.

This was also why, for every free night that she had had since the incident, Loivissa had returned to where she was now, and not in Mercury's tent, as had almost become a habit of hers before the incident. Where she was now was the camp-version of a tavern, which was a large kitchen tent that had been converted for the night.

Loivissa was not sitting among the clusters of dökkálfar sharing stories, songs and generally socializing with each other, but was rather located alone in a dark corner, completely unnoticed by everyone thanks to the darkness and the light brown cloak that she had put on to hide her features and her face.

She did not want anyone to notice her here, they would only begin spreading rumours after all, and she was not here to socialize either. What she was here for was what stood in front of her and had both of her hands around it; a tankard of ale.

She never drank enough to actually be drunk, or even inebriated, but that was mostly because she did not know when her aid might be needed and she therefore needed to keep a clear head, and that she did not want anyone to know what she was doing.

Logically, she knew that she was simply trying to shut out what she had seen and that she was accomplishing nothing by trying to do so, but her entire view on warfare had been forever changed by the memories of those starving children.

_Was father's war just like this one?_, Loivissa questioned herself, _no, it could not have been. They never laid siege to any city for long enough for the population to starve. Well, perhaps in Dras-Leona, but that was different, they could not get in because of Thorn and the city still had some use of its fishing vessels, so it was probably not that bad_.

Loivissa knew that the siege of Dras-Leona had been drawn out because of Thorn and Murtagh, and although a tiny voice inside her said that it might very well have been close to this bad back then, she would not know after all since she was not born until three quarters of a century later, she still refused to think that it was this bad for the inhabitants. It was never mentioned in any of the stories after all.

But although that time might not have counted, the second siege of Dras-Leona by The Ra'zac Empire, which lasted for more than two years, would definitely have counted as something close to this, although they got some supplies inside, thanks to the waterways.

Truthfully, Loivissa did not know how bad it had been in Dras-Leona the second time either. She had never actually given much thought to the subject, other than the passing thought that she gave to the supply trains rolling south.

She had always been told that the brave and bold defenders of Dras-Leona courageously held back the enemy tide, but had it really been like that? Had the real story been closer to this one; a besieged city under military rule, where the actual fight was not who would give out first thanks to some bravery on one side's part, but who would succumb to sickness and hunger first? Was that what Mercury had wanted to teach her?

Loivissa honestly did not know what Mercury was thinking or trying to teach her, if anything, as he had been conspicuously silent about the entire matter. He had not even once mentioned her sudden disappearances during the nights. Adûn had only commented on the matter slightly; saying that she needed to figure out the answers for herself, as he already had come to terms with them himself.

"_So then the girl came up, looked at his shaking sword and with one blow, she sent him sprawling_", a loud boisterous male dökkálfar from the table next to Loivissa's hiding spot interrupted her brooding.

"_That was not what happened!_", another voice, which Loivissa dimly remembered as belonging to one from the Varangian Guard, tried to defend himself, but his denial was drowned out by the laughter of his friends, "_she is a feisty little vixen, and a lot stronger and faster than she looks too. If one of you ever tried to duel her, she would send you crying back to your mothers_".

Loivissa's understanding of the dökkálfar language, or urgal language actually, as it was more of a dialect to that really, had improved greatly over the past month since they set out from Hydronium, although she still had trouble with a few choice words and how to bend them in different time periods.

"_I would not want a fight with that vixen. I very much like my dignity the way it is_", another butted in, which earned the laugh of the entire group.

"_Speaking of which, how long do you think that the Commander is going to last?_", a fourth one asked. It seemed strangely familiar to Loivissa somehow, but she could not place it.

"_Ten silver pieces says that he will be dead before summer_", the first voice said.

"_Hah, ten you say? Well, I heard from a friend of mine in the navy that he was ranked among the lowest of the fighters on his ship, so I will raise that to fifteen, if anyone would dare to take the bet_", a fourth previously unheard voice joined the conversation.

It was interesting to Loivissa to hear what people really thought when they assumed that they were away from prying eyes and ears, although their apparent general opinion of Mercury's life expectancy was not all that comforting.

"_But he still has us! The Varangian Guard!_", the guy that Loivissa sort of began to remember who was, said sarcastically, "_how in all the watery hells did he come up with such a name anyway? Does it even mean anything, because no one that I have talked to, even the translators, have any idea?_"

"_So I assume that you are in on the bet as well?_", the first better asked.

"_Yeah, but unlike you guys, I am betting that he survives the entire war and manages to outlive us all_", the guard said, perhaps he would not be the subject of her newest drilling method after all, "_I tell you that I heard from my father, who was still young at the time, that when the Commander first came to Alalëa and was challenged, he broke both arms and legs of his opponent within the first minute of the fight! Only afterwards did anyone consider that he might not know the rules_".

That earned another laugh from the crowd, although Loivissa did not remember the tale being that gory in Mercury's version, but she reasoned that it had probably been exaggerated over time.

"_Is it true that he always sleeps with one hand on a dagger and one eye open and constantly scanning for threats?_", the fourth voice that had initiated the betting talk, asked.

"_Narh, I heard that he sleeps with one hand on a dagger, one eye open and the other hand on his little vixen's naked form!_", the first voice, which had betted the ten silver pieces, proclaimed, "_not that I personally see what is so great about her, but I suppose that if you look at her assets and imagine that the rest is not too far off from what the Commander's species' women must be like, I suppose I could understand the attraction_.

The insinuation that he made was not one that Loivissa was all that comfortable overhearing, and she had to restrain herself from physically correcting the male's assumptions. A bar fight started by her would not look good for Mercury after all, since people judged her actions as a reflection of his.

"_You are both wrong of course_", the guard said, Loivissa really began to like this guard, before he continued, "_everyone knows that he does not sleep at all!_"

"_Then what is the bed for?_", another continued to prod, "_something else perhaps?_"

"_I would not know about that. I mean, she always leaves to hers and his aide's shared tent before night, but I honestly do not dare to ask the others any further about it. That guy is damn creepy with the things that he knows_", the guard said and took a long sip from his tankard before continuing, "_on my very second day on the job, he called me in, by name no less, and asked if I wanted to use his enchanted mirror to congratulate my daughter, which he also called by name, on her eighth birthday_".

Loivissa remembered that incident with a grin plastered on her face. Naina had overheard some of the guards discussing it and had told Mercury, who had then played the role like it was perfectly normal to know not only the names of every one of your guards on their second day of duty, but also all of their kids' names and birthdays. It had been the cause of much laughter for all three of them when the poor guardsman had later left the tent with a shell-shocked expression.

"_So just to get things clear, Kópa and Lam respectively bet 10 and 15 silver pieces against Stenr that the Commander survives the war_", the fourth voice that had initiated the entire subject, confirmed.

"_Hear hear to that!_", the three betters said in unison, before the irritating ten-silver-piece-guy said, "_now what say you that Vardo here gives the next round? He is in love after all!_"

"_Hush it you fool! Who knows what were to happen if He found out. I would be sent off to the frontline in every skirmish if that happened!_", the fourth voice, now identified as Vardo, tried to hush his louder comrade.

"_Oh relax, it is not like, He..!"_, and at this, the irritating Kópa-guy made a dramatic pause to listen for intruders, "…_can here you in here. I mean, that would be the talk of the camp if an officer was ever spotted in a place like this. Besides, He! does not even know your name after all. To him, you are just another underling in one of his 'Decans', as the Commander calls them, so relax and cheer up!_"

Shortly after that, Loivissa exited the make-shift tavern without anyone's notice. For some reason, she felt that if she stayed any longer, she would eventually end up punching that irritating Kópa-guy, consequences be damned.

She eventually decided to take a walk to clear her head and perhaps bring some fresh ideas as to how to cope with the reality of what they were doing to her head. More often than not, her feet led her near Mercury's tent, and judging by the guards outside of its behaviours, they found it suspicious that a clearly non-dökkálfar person would continuously wander so close to their charge's tent at night.

They probably would not have acted that way if they knew that it was her under the hood, but for the moment, Loivissa preferred her anonymity to be kept intact, so she always quickly wandered away again.

Her thoughts constantly revolved around the images of those starving people, but how was she supposed to cope with knowing what they were doing to countless innocent civilians? How had the dökkálfar at the table next to hers been able to joke and have fun while knowing what they were doing every hour that they stayed here?

Was it because they did not consider the humans to be equal to them? No, that could not be it, because Loivissa had seen the distinct discomfort that had appeared on everyone's faces when the citizens had walked out of those gates, but then how did they do it?

Perhaps that was why they were joking and laughing with each other and generally carrying on with their day to day lives and duties? What if that was their only way of distancing themselves emotionally from what they were doing, and if so, would it be something that Loivissa could replicate?

…

Perhaps she could. She had after all completely lost the squeezing feeling inside of her when she had remembered that incident with the guardsman, and she did know that whenever she was in the midst of training or some other duties that required her attention, she never thought about it.

_But if that is the answer, have I then been worsening the problem by distancing myself from others in my free time?_, Loivissa mused, _perhaps I should go back to spend my evenings with Naina and or Mercury, but definitely not right now, as it is already late and I do not want to give any further assistance to the rumours_.

**Mercury POV(5 weeks and 2 days into the siege)  
**Mercury was beginning to doubt the success of his strategy. It was not at all going like he had thought that it would. They were supposed to have given up after three to four weeks, not be almost halfway into the fifth week without any signs of giving up yet.

He was currently pacing back and forth late at night in his command tent that was devoid of all life but his, as he grappled with his options and how they would affect his plans.

When the citizens had been forced to march out, he had secretly celebrated, because he saw it as a sign that the siege would soon be at its end. The siege ending would mean that the transport vessels filled to the brim with food that were docked in Ferrat, would finally be allowed to actually give the poor citizens some food.

They waited only for his signal, and then they would be there in half a day with enough food to feed the hungry populace until fishing and farming could commence again, if only the city would just surrender!

Mercury had not made the part about the ships known to anyone but Naina, including Loivissa, as he considered this to be her first test of how committed she was to him and the cause, and more importantly, how well he could count on her in the future if the situations suddenly heated up. That was also why he had allowed her to find her own answers on how to cope with things, as she needed to learn this by herself.

If she had not been able to find one either with or without his help, then Mercury would have put her on a ship headed for Alagaësia at the first opportunity to do so; the consequences be damned.

It was not because it was a terrible strategic or tactical loss from a militaristic point of view if anyone found out about the secret food transports, but rather because he had wanted to make it a surprise for the citizens when they eventually surrendered.

If he had promised them the food from the start, they would have thought nothing more of it than him fulfilling his promise, but when he did something not promised, they would view it as a greater act of kindness towards their pleas and be more loyal towards him afterwards, meaning that he would not need to leave so many men behind to keep control of the city and that it was less likely to do as the ra'zac ordered it to do if they managed to get any messages inside afterwards.

It was the Stockholm syndrome that he was trying to invoke, and Mercury knew it, where they would forget that he was the reason that they were starving and instead turn their anger towards those faithful to the ra'zac that had not made them surrender before, and all because of one little act of unexpected kindness.

If they would just freaking surrender already!

Mercury calculated that he had a week more at the most to make them surrender before he had to pull back to reach Hydronium in time to defend it without having to tire out his men with a forced march. It would be a major setback if he lost that city at the cost of this one.

He was already beginning to consider sending out word to Tel Noach about the ships with food that would arrive shortly after their surrender. That should probably stir the populace into enough of a frenzy to make them overthrow what little administration was left, although it could just as easily backfire.

If he broke with his strategy now, they might catch on to it and realize that he was in a hurry, which was something that absolutely could not be made public. If that happened, then he would have no choice but to storm the city and lose valuable soldiers, as well as possibly damaging the siege equipment in the process.

Not to mention that if he had to storm the city, then the populace would be far less lenient towards him and he would need to leave more guards behind to maintain order. It would not at all be the easy victory that he needed in order to show his men that, if they followed him, they could actually win this war, and then there was the matter of what they had been doing so far that would be brought up to question as well.

_I will wait three more days, then reveal the ships, and if that does not do it, then I have no choice but to storm the city_, Mercury finally decided, _now, how best to minimize losses during such an attack-_

He was cut off from his musings by the horrific shriek that could only belong to a lethrblaka, which was answered shortly after by horns from inside the city.

A guard knocked, before he rushed in and in a slightly frenzied voice said, "_the lethrblaka are upon us and the city attacks as well!_"

Yes! This was just what Mercury had been hoping for; a last ditch effort to break out, although he had not imagined that the lethrblaka would risk themselves to save a city so far off when they could have had better protection within the army that was marching towards Mercury. Perhaps he needed to rethink how the lethrblaka race thought? He would need someone from the race, preferably a ra'zac, to interrogate if that was to be the case.

But for now, he had other matters to attend to, "_fetch my apprentice and tell her to prepare for battle_".

* * *

After reading Mercury's segment in this chapter, I also begin to laugh in a half evil villain laugh and half as a maniac.


	18. Fires in the night

**Fires in the night**

**Loivissa POV  
**Loivissa awoke with a start from her peaceful slumber when she heard the lethrblaka screech. It was an unmistakeable sound that she had been on alert for, for the past few years, so when it came to her ears, her body moved on its own.

She immediately jumped off the cot and reached towards the drawer that had her rider sword, Aiedail, nestled comfortably on top of it, only to realize that she was no longer in her room in Nolondil and that there was no such drawer in this tent.

In the cot beside her, Naina awoke somewhat more slowly, but as soon as she seemed to have identified the sounds, an expensive looking curved dagger with a polished steel blade and a green handle suddenly appeared in her hand from out of nowhere.

After having reacquainted herself with her surroundings again, Loivissa quickly took her sword from its standing position next to the head of her cot, before she started putting on the travelling rider's armour, which consisted of a tunic made of two layers of green cloth with an unusually thin layer of chainmail between them.

It was better protection than nothing while on the road, but while it was significantly lighter and less conspicuous than normal armour, it was also less durable.

_What is happening?!_, Loivissa asked Adûn while in the midst of putting on some black leggings.

_The camp seems to be in an uproar from the lethrblaka screech, but no one is sure where it came from_, Adûn answered. Loivissa could sense his agitation at the possibility of an upcoming battle between the pair of them and a possible horde of lethrblaka.

Loivissa had just finished putting on her leggings and was tying her shoes, while Naina was in the midst of putting some leather armour on, when the curtains behind Loivissa's back were thrown aside by an unknown shouting individual.

As quick as a flash, with her eyes lightening, Loivissa whipped around and found a guard from the Varangian Guard that she somewhat remembered who was, standing stock still with her sword's tip at his exposed throat.

"**The Commander sent for you**", the shivering guardsman managed to creak out after swallowing, while still keeping his eyes deadlocked on the sword millimetres from punching through his windpipe.

As quickly as it had come, the sword vanished from the guard's throat, earning a not very subtle sigh of relief from him, and a few moments later, the three of them were on their way to Mercury's red command tent.

Adûn was too big to come with them inside, so Loivissa left him outside the tent with a few guards with instructions to saddle him, although she did keep his presence firmly inside her mind the entire time.

Inside the tent, chaos seemed to reign, as several people were yelling different things at several different aides, Varangian guards and ordinary soldiers, so that no one seemed to be aware of who was to do what. Mercury was no exception to this, as he kept trying to get everyone to either shut up completely or at least be silent enough that it did not disturb the others.

A few seconds passed like this, with Loivissa and Naina both in a stupor at the scene in front of them, before Mercury finally lost his temper, punched hard down into the table, so hard in fact that Loivissa thought that she might have heard a tiny crack from his hand, before his eyes shone with a fierce silvery light and he roared in a clearly magically amplified voice, "**Enough! Everyone keep quiet!**"

The effect was instant, as no noise, not even breathing, could be heard from within the tent.

Mercury's eyes lost their glow and he seemed to sway just enough that Loivissa was still unsure of whether he actually did so, before he, in a regular volume voice, said, "_now, Hsath, the screeching was heard from your end of the camp, has anyone sighted the lethrblaka yet?_"

"_Not yet, I was just trying to get my aide to check the other ends_", the dökkálfar named Hsath answered.

"_Good, from now on, you are in charge of keeping up with the lethrblaka. I want regular but quiet reports of everything pertaining to them forwarded to my apprentice here_", Mercury said and gestured towards Loivissa, "_Loivissa, you and Adûn will take to the skies immediately to patrol for lethrblaka. An intermediary will be provided by Hsath and will inform you of any developments, as well as forwarding your reports to us_".

"_Yes, at once_", Loivissa complied with a small nod, before she began heading out with Hsath in tow, but before she left, she heard Mercury say, "_Now, Slava, your responsibility was the patrol on the palisade. How hard have we been hit so far?_"

Loivissa did not have time to hear Slava's answer, or even what was attacking the palisade, before she was led away from the tent and introduced to what looked like a gruff looking dökkálfar male with a scar running down from his left eye and to his chin.

"_This will be your go-between_", Hsath explained quickly, "_you can call him Hljödhr. His tongue has been cut out, but he has the farthest reach of the dökkálfar under my command_".

Loivissa nodded at the man, while Adûn, who had followed her since leaving Mercury's tent, sniffed experimentally at him. The man named Hljödhr took a look of disbelief at how fragile Loivissa looked, before turning his gaze to Adûn, where he instinctively edged slightly away from the giant head that could shallow him whole if it wanted to, before he finally carefully extended his conscious towards Loivissa's.

Loivissa hesitantly let him through the first layer, just enough so that he would be able to communicate with her, before she jumped up on Adûn's now saddled back and took off towards the skies, while keeping Hljödhr's presence within her head to provide her with updates.

The sky was silent, and completely dark besides, as no stars or the moon could be seen because of a thick cloud cover. It was an eerie silence, like you knew that something would happen, but had no idea of when and from where. It was the perfect setting for a creature like the lethrblaka.

_I do not like it up here. It is too quiet_, Adûn said in a deeper layer of Loivissa's mind than the one Hljödhr was in.

_I know, me neither_, Loivissa replied nervously.

From up here, she could clearly see what Mercury had referred to when he asked about the palisade, because storming out the city gates were hundreds of tiny lights, torches most likely, that all seemed to be racing towards different parts of the palisade, although many seemed to be converging on the south-western and south-eastern ends.

The middle section of the southern part had already been set on fire, but from up here, Loivissa could see that there really were not that many torches in that area.

_We should forward this to Mercury_, Adûn recommended, which Loivissa swiftly complied with and told Hljödhr.

_The Commander thanks you for the information, but urges to keep your eyes open for lethrblaka in the skies above you_, Hljödhr replied soon after.

_But nothing is happening up here!_, Loivissa said in her and Adûn's private part of her mind.

_I know dear, but we must remain vigilant of the very real lethrblaka threat_, Adûn answered.

For the next half an hour, Loivissa and Adûn kept flying around the battlefield without spotting any trace of the lethrblaka, except for the frequent screeching, which seemed to unnerve not only them, but the general command staff in Mercury's tent as well, at least according to Hljödhr's snippets of information of what went on.

They continued to feed information about the enemy's formations and positions, which they were in a prime spot to see, but had been banned from actually participating in the fight below for reasons unknown to the two of them.

Hljödhr was very stoic and only said something when either asked directly or when he delivered a message, so the talking was almost exclusively done between Adûn and Loivissa. Not that they talked much, as Loivissa constantly checked Adûn's blind spots, while Adûn checked almost everywhere else to search for the missing lethrblaka threat.

The really interesting part for Loivissa was that if she watched the fight below, she could almost see a kind of ebb and tide in the battlefield positions. Whenever Mercury's forces were about to mass for a counterattack and encircle the enemy from hidden positions, at least hidden from the ground, the enemy forces would suddenly retreat back to safety, and whenever the opposite was about to happen, where a feint was thrown at one part of a wall segment while another force was preparing to break through another segment, Mercury would reinforce the endangered segment thanks to her overview.

Really, hardly any fighting was actually being done between the two sides, as both seemed to retreat and fall back just before any major clashes occurred.

_The Commander asks you to take cover above the clouds until an as of yet unspecified signal_, Hljödhr instructed.

_But then I will not be able to feed him any data about what is going on below_, Loivissa argued.

Another small pause ensued, as it always did whenever Loivissa tried to argue back, before Hljödhr's voice came again, _he says that he is aware of this and asks you to do it anyway_.

_We better just do as we are told dear. I am sure that silver-eyes has something in mind for us_, Adûn reasoned, before starting his ascent without even waiting for her reply. He knew her well enough that he knew in many cases what she would decide before she did.

When they were finally above the cloud cover, Loivissa forwarded it to Hljödhr, who soon after instructed her to remain there for a few minutes more, while checking whether any lethrblaka ever came up to them before he would tell them when to descend again.

The few minutes seemed almost impossibly long, although the view could certainly not be complained about, as the stars shone far more brightly and the moon far clearer than Loivissa had ever remembered seeing them.

_Descend down in 16 seconds. A large light will be lit at the back of the camp in 18 seconds. Do not look directly upon it but search the sky for dark shadows. Kill on sight_, Hljödhr unceremoniously instructed, before he began counting down until the lighting should occur.

After 16 seconds, Adûn and Loivissa descended through the clouds. They had just passed the cloud layer when the count reached zero and they both looked away from the area that they knew would be lighted and instead focused on the airspace below them.

When the ball of light finally appeared, it was as if a second moon had suddenly decided to materialize out of nowhere, even though Loivissa did not even look in the direction, she still felt this way, but that was not what caught her attention.

What did catch her attention were the black shadows of at least five lethrblaka circling above the battlefield, but still below Loivissa and Adûn, who were seemingly unwilling to engage directly.

_There!_, Loivissa shouted mentally and added their location in case Adûn had not seen them.

Adûn angled his wings and began a steep dive towards the nearest one. The lethrblaka had been startled when the light first appeared, but because of the cloud cover and their dark leathery hides, they were apparently confident enough that they could not be distinguished from the clouds above them when seen from below.

Too bad that Loivissa was not below but above them, as the first lethrblaka learned the hard way when Adûn crashed into the beast with a ferocious speed and threw the now completely disoriented lethrblaka down towards the ground, before spreading his wings and ascending again.

The lethrblaka did not have time to stop its rapid descent when it finally figured out what had happened, and it crashed in the midst of a company of spear wielding infantrymen from the city with a sickening crunching sound.

The remaining lethrblaka were however quicker to realize what was going on and quickly copied Adûn's ascent. No matter how Loivissa looked at it, four on one in these conditions did not favour the one, but there was nothing to do about it now, other than reducing the four to zero, that is.

Adûn, still a little higher than the lethrblaka because of his early head start, suddenly broke his ascent and dived head-on towards the lethrblaka lowest below them. Loivissa knew from her bond what Adûn would do before he did it, so when he flew past the surprised lethrblaka closest to them with his back towards it, Loivissa lashed out with her sword and felt it connect with the membrane of its wing.

It had not been a serious cut, but the shock of it did manage to provoke a screech of pain from the creature and prevented it from immediately diving after Adûn, as he headed down towards the lowest lethrblaka, who was fully aware of the incoming clash that was about to occur.

The two clashed in mid-air, with Adûn trying to bite at the lethrblaka's neck, while it tried to do the same to him, as they both plummeted down towards the ground. Loivissa could feel some of her wards around Adûn draining as they stopped the lethrblaka's beak and claws from fully digging into Adûn's flesh.

The two were however plummeting too fast for this to be decided without both of them ending up crushed on the ground, which Loivissa wordlessly made Adûn aware of, before Adûn with a surge of power pushed the lethrblaka away from him and began to level out from their decent.

The lethrblaka above them had different ideas however, as one of them landed with its hind claws near Adûn's shoulder joint and tried to force them down into the ground, as the two of them had done to its comrade.

What the lethrblaka had not counted on was that it had positioned its hind legs just inside Loivissa's sword's reach, and she swiftly used said sword to try and cut into the exposed flesh. The lethrblaka's hide was thick and sturdy, but a rider's sword is sharper, lighter and more durable than most other swords, but it still only barely managed to penetrate when Loivissa thrust it into the leg.

The sting of the sword was enough warning for the lethrblaka to know that its hind legs were in danger and it immediately let go of the two of them. It was just in time for Adûn to avoid crashing into the ground, although a few tents were yanked off of their posts by the spikes on his tail.

Now that the immediate danger of crashing had been averted, Loivissa's gaze was once again directed upwards, but because their positions had now switched from when they started, she could not see any signs of where they were.

Adûn growled angrily, he had been quite upset when they had dug into his shoulder joint, and began ascending with an urge to rip, tear and bite so strong that Loivissa almost felt like she was the one who wanted to sink her teeth into their necks.

_Calm down, we must think carefully when in this position_, Loivissa tried to calm her partner, but no sooner had she said so, before a faint black shape appeared in the air above them. It was descending fast, but was not large enough to be a lethrblaka, but Loivissa nonetheless still hardly had any time to react when what turned out to be a ra'zac with a wicked looking sword in its hands landed behind her.

_Dear!_, Adûn shouted concerned, immediately forgetting his own anger at the lethrblaka in favour of his endangered rider.

Loivissa only just managed to flick around and deflect the first blow, but in the ensuing swordfight, the ra'zac had the upper hand because Loivissa had to fight with her back to it. Adûn, trying to shake it off, immediately did a spin, but the creature somehow managed to stay on. Through her bond with Adûn, Loivissa could feel that it was because it had its claws dug deeply around Adûn's scales.

If they had been face to face, Loivissa was confident that she could have beat it, but as it was now, she received plenty of strikes that only just deflected off of her hidden chainmail armour because she had either weakened the strike or because it came at a bad angle.

Still, the ra'zac seemed surprised that its sword even met resistance, as Loivissa, at least in its eyes, was not wearing any armour. Loivissa now cursed her own forgetfulness for forgetting to set up wards around her to block incoming strikes. It had been necessary not to have them during her day-to-day affairs, but in all the rush of where the enemy was coming from, she had forgotten to reset them and had not thought about it since.

Adûn tried another spin, but just as he was levelling out, the ra'zac managed to connect with an already weakened spot on her hidden armour, which gave in and allowed its blade to pierce through Loivissa's lower left side.

The blade felt very cold to Loivissa's warm skin, like an icicle had pierced her, and it was with a cry of mixed surprise and pain that Loivissa threw her own sword around her right side towards the now defenceless ra'zac's head, where the blade made quick work of what should have been its neck.

The ra'zac limply let its sword go and fell off the back of Adûn, where it plummeted out of sight, but the icy feeling of the sword still imbedded within Loivissa's flesh remained. Adûn, now more enraged than ever at his rider's injury, promptly ascended faster than ever with sea-blue flames igniting the very air in front of and around him.

His fury was so great and his flames so widespread that one lethrblaka that had dared to venture just a little too close, had the membranes on its wings burned until large holes appeared in them, and after that, no lethrblaka dared come closer to the terrifying sea of flames.

In the end though, it was not Adûn's efforts that made the lethrblaka retreat, but rather the fact that during the time of their aerial combat, the fight below had suddenly gone from an uphill battle for the entrenched citizens and down into a mass rout.

Even from up here, Loivissa could hear the cling of weapons being dropped to the ground and see torches either trying to make a mad dash for the city gates or being thrown down in surrender. It was this sight combined with the fact that they knew that any further interaction on their part could only lead to more of them dead against the enraged Adûn, which eventually made the lethrblaka turn tail and flee west.

After making sure that they were actually fleeing, Adûn quickly descended down towards the earth to have someone aid his injured rider, whom he knew had expended too much energy on his own wards to take care of this herself, combined with the fact that he himself was dead tired from his rampage, so he would not be able to contribute much energy. Not to mention that Loivissa was not able to pull out the sword that had pierced her, by herself either, due to it being stuck in from behind.

**Mercury POV(half an hour earlier)  
**The battle was not going as Mercury had expected that it would. The lethrblaka were nowhere to be seen, but could be heard almost constantly as a reminder that they were still there, ready and waiting to attack when the time was right, and the actual ground battle had begun looking less and less like an actual fight and more and more like two constantly flowing masses that almost never came into contact.

"_Fourth Centurion reports that the enemy evacuated before they got around them, sir_", one of his advisors, which was responsible for keeping track of the first through fifth Centurions, reported.

_Damned, they knew what we were doing again_, Mercury cursed, but kept his expression emotionless, as he ordered, "_have them fall back to their previous position. Hsath, any news of the lethrblaka?_"

"_No sir, none of my lookouts have found anything, and neither has the female dragon rider, but she does warn you that an attack is being prepared at the eastern segments_", Hsath reported.

"_Understood. Teleri, have the seventh Centurion reinforce the eastern segment and tell the eighth and tenth to report with the thirteenth at the south-western segment, near the water_", Mercury instructed and moved the little black squares that represented his Centurions towards their projected positions on the map spread out on the table in front of them, "_if we can sneak them around along the water's edge, we will be able to isolate them from the city gates and force a surrender_".

No sooner had he reinforced his eastern position and prepared his other troops, before the enemy force suddenly pulled back in defence of their gates. It was irritating to say the least, as it was like whatever he was preparing in secret, the enemy somehow found out about.

They were interrupting his plans, and he did not like it. He could have simply spread out his troops in an even half-circle and then launched an all-out attack, which he was sure that he would win because of his superior troops and numbers, but he did not want to do that since it would cost an awfully lot of lives, especially when compared to what were to happen if he could outmanoeuvre his enemy and force a surrender.

The enemy leadership seemed to think along the same lines, although in their position, they needed that tactical advantage to even hope for a win, which led to the current predicament of hardly any engagement happening.

If it had not been for Loivissa's overview, Mercury would not have been able to see through many of the ruses that had been thrown at him, but at same time, he also suspected that the lethrblaka were not actually screeching to wear down the defenders' nerves, but rather forwarding his positions to someone, probably their offspring, inside the enemy command structure, who then utilized that overview just as Mercury did.

He needed to remove their influence on the battle if he was to get anything done, that much was certain, although he had not yet made any of his advisors aware of his suspicions. Now, how to not only make the lethrblaka visible for Loivissa, but also give her a much needed advantage in as unfair a fight as it would surely turn out to be?

"_Teleri, I want you to send 20 of your most gifted mages towards the back of the camp. Tell them that on my signal, they are to create the largest ball of light that they can sustain for an extended period of time_", Mercury ordered as an idea came to him, which originally had its origin in how a shark hunted from the depths, "_Hsath, relay to Loivissa and Adûn that they are to take cover above the skies until my signal_".

"_But then they would not be able to feed us information about the battle!_", one of his advisors protested, which was soon mirrored by Loivissa through Hljödhr through Hsath.

"_Tell Loivissa that I am aware of that and for her to do it anyway_", Mercury instructed to Hsath, before turning to his other advisors, "_we need to take out the lethrblaka that are doing the same as my apprentice is, so in the meantime, let us set up a two-step ruse along the south-western segment, where the eighth, tenth and thirteenth prepare to break through. The lethrblaka will report this and they will take appropriate countermeasures, but then just before we blind them, and ourselves, I want the entire eastern wall-segments to launch everyone that they got at the enemy in one volley, before charging directly at them. They will react to this threat and believe that our earlier movement was a feint, but shortly after they move to engage the eastern segments, I want the eighth, tenth and thirteenth to let loose their volleys and charge into the enemy's back, thereby trapping the enemy main force between the two forces_".

"_It could work, but we would need a few minutes to instruct everyone on what to do_", Teleri stated.

It took a little more than just a few minutes before everything was ready and set, but when they were, and when the necessary intermediaries listened through the advisors that they were located under, Mercury proclaimed, "_Everyone start counting down from 20 from three, two, one, now!_"

The effect was one that could be felt in the very ground beneath their feet not long after, as a loud crash could be heard and the ground shook from the impact of a lethrblaka hammering down into the ground with what must have been a tremendous speed.

Mercury did not have much time to listen to Hsath's reports of what Hljödhr said was going on between the lethrblaka and Loivissa and Adûn, not that Mercury could do particularly much, as he was busy watching his final plan come to fruition and making tiny adjustments when necessary, though almost all of those were thought of and done by the Centurinuses in the field, as they had a much better view of what was actually going on.

It was only when Hsath reported that Adûn had turned into what looked like a ball of flames that Mercury became concerned about what could have happened. Had his gamble that Loivissa and Adûn would be able to stave off the lethrblaka for long enough for them to win decisively, been too much for the pair? If Adûn was acting this way, Loivissa must have been hurt somehow, but how much and how critical was a complete mystery to Mercury.

She had not died, or rather, she could not have died. If Mercury had had the mental strength to do so, he would have tried reaching out to be sure of this, but even if he had not performed that feat of magic nearly two hours ago, which had been quite a lot more taxing than he cared to admit to anyone, and had nearly made him fall down to the ground right then and there, he still would not have had enough mental strength to even reach ten metres ahead of him.

He was only half listening to the reports of mass surrenders and routs that seemed to spread like wildfire across the board, as the ground once again shook underneath their feet, signalling that Adûn had landed outside his tent.

The curtains were quickly spread aside by two of his Varangian guards, while a third and someone that Mercury did not know who was, carried Loivissa between their shoulders and into the tent. Her clothes were quite bloodied, she looked like she could hardly stand and might faint any minute now. Oh yeah, and there was an unmistakeable large silvery steel sword going through her lower left side.

"_Everyone not my aide, out! I want a report of tonight's casualties, wounded and prisoners by tomorrow morning_", Mercury commanded with force in his voice, before he shoved everything off the table and said to the guards holding her, "_lay her on the table_".

They quickly laid her on her right side, so that the wound would not get worse, before curtsying and leaving. Mercury stepped behind Loivissa to inspect the damage done; it did not look like it would have hit any organs from the angle, assuming that elves did not have some hidden organs that he did not know about.

Her biggest concern seemed to be blood loss, as the blade appeared to have torn a bit into the surrounding flesh, but at least no one had been stupid enough to remove it. It was at times like this that Mercury really wished that he still had the use of his magic, or that the dökkálfar had any idea of how to heal elves.

Mercury had heard that Eragon had had to heal a baby's split lip during their short war together, and that he had had to take extra care to not give it the same material as he would with adults, so he would not even try to have a dökkálfar that was not intimately aware of elven anatomy, heal even a fibre on her.

"Loivissa, I am going to need you to heal this up on your own. You can use whatever energy you need from my stores", Mercury said slowly and carefully.

When he did not get any response, he tried to turn her head, only to find that she already had her eyes closed. Adûn soon after requested entrance and was granted so by Mercury.

_She dosed off shortly after she was laid down_ he explained.

Great, just freaking great! He was too weak to do anything even remotely magical, any natural magical talents on Naina's part were blocked, Loivissa had dosed off, the dökkálfar would probably heal her with their skin and flesh, which would most likely then be rejected by Loivissa's body, and Adûn only had some uncontrollable magic.

"Naina, bring me some thread, a sewing needle, some bandages, a jar of salt, a cooking pot and a pair of tongs", Mercury instructed Naina, who soon took off to gather the materials.

While she was away, Mercury gathered up some cloth to be used to stop the bleeding momentarily. Among them was his shaving cloth, as it was blood-red anyway and was used for a similar purpose by himself. Naina returned shortly after with the required objects, after which Mercury instructed her to take over stopping the bleeding.

_Now, I cannot exactly remember the dosage needed for a proper saline solution, nor is it wise to try one without proper measurement instruments, not to mention that even if I knew the dosage and had the instruments, it is not sure that elves have the same numbers as humans_, Mercury mused as he put a few tablespoons of salt in the pot, before adding water to the mix, _so for now, I will just use it as a cleansing agent. It is regrettable that blood transfusion is an impossibility too, as, even if she was human, there would only be a very small chance that she had my blood type, assuming that it has not also been changed by Kilgharrah_.

He then asked Adûn to heat the pot until boiling point, during which he sterilized the other instruments over a candle. It was only when everything was ready that he finally returned to Loivissa's side, took one look at the armoured tunic and quickly rejected any idea of being able to remove it before getting the sword out.

_Will she be alright?_, Adûn questioned nervously.

_She will be fine. It did not seem to do any major damage, so I will just need to cleanse and close her wound_, Mercury assured the dragon.

"On my signal, I pull the sword out. Be ready to yank the tunic off of her after this. Then begin again with stopping the bleeding", Mercury calmly instructed to his aide, who was placed in front of Loivissa, as opposed to Mercury, who was placed behind her to be able to grip the sword's handle.

Naina nodded once, and on Mercury's signal, he pulled the sword out as quickly and as carefully as he could, hoping that it would not do any more damage on the way out, before Loivissa's tunic was quickly yanked off by Naina, before she returned to stopping the bleeding.

Mercury quickly washed the wound with the now only bodily warm saline solution, before he inspected the sword to check that no pieces had broken off inside that he would need to remove first. After confirming that there were none, he began to slowly but surely sew up the wound.

Sewing had never been a great skill of his, but he did it well enough that the wound closed and the bleeding stopped. He then moved on to Loivissa's front side and repeated the process of washing the wound with the saline solution and sewing it up, before he began wrapping bandages around her torso.

_That should do it for now, at least until she wakes up on her own. Then, she can properly heal the wound with her own magic_, Mercury thought to both to himself and Adûn, as the dragon had never left Mercury's head during the entire process, just as he finished the knot securing the bandage.

"Put her on my bed and then you can go back to your tent and sleep. I will clean up this mess and check up on her from time to time during the night", Mercury told Naina, as he pinched the root of his nose from exertion.

"What about her…state of undress?", Naina asked nervously.

"Right, get some clothes for her first and put them on her, but nothing that prevents access to the wounded area, and then you can retire for the night", Mercury corrected himself.

He had not thought about it, had not even considered it. Anything not directly next to the wound or with any relation to it had left his mind completely. She could have been nude from top to toe without it ever properly registering to him as long as he had to take care of the wound, although now that he thought about it, Mercury was glad for this single-mindedness. It had most likely saved him from a severe backlash from Adûn.

_You are quite right little silver-eyes_, Adûn commented.

_Well, at least I will have company during the night_, Mercury dryly commented in regards to the fact that he knew that Adûn was unlikely to fall asleep, and would more than likely demand that Mercury constantly keep him either inside Mercury's head, or else he would put his head through the canvas.

It was going to be a long night and an even longer day tomorrow, as he would likely have to negotiate the city's surrender and begin making arrangements to leave it again soon after. Just because Mercury did not sleep much, it did not mean that he did not need any, and since the meditation techniques had to be undisturbed for at least an hour at a time, he could not take some of the pressure off by doing that either.


	19. The calm between storms

Happy Mammoth Monday!**  
**Hmm, I just realized that I have not killed off anyone in a while, so I was wondering whether I should correct that...maybe...  
But you do not have to worry about Loivissa just yet(honestly, you do not have to worry), because I am issuing her the latest edition of plot armour, effective against swords and other weapons, but vulnerable to being stabbed from behind ;)

* * *

**The calm between storms**

**Loivissa POV(17 days later)  
**It had been 17 days since her battle with the lethrblaka in the skies above Tel Noach. The city had surrendered the following morning, as most of their army had surrendered by then, combined with the fact that breaking the siege had been their last option at that point, or so Loivissa had been told.

She had not actually been there at the time, as she had not woken up until halfway into the second night after her and Adûn's battle. That had been a weird experience. When she had first woken up, she had thought that she was back aboard The Mirage because she was lying in a bed, but upon seeing the red canvas, she immediately realized where she was.

After realizing this, she had looked around and found Mercury sitting in his chair at his desk with one hand around a cup of what must have been cold tea, while the other was busy holding his head up. His eyes had been closed, and he looked to be asleep, but he also looked like he had not slept at all in days.

From her vantage point, Loivissa had seen several sheets of parchment spread out in front of him, as if he had fallen asleep while reading them. She had then remembered the wound that she had suffered, only to realize that the clothes that she were in now were not the ones that she had been in earlier.

"Did you undress me?!", had been her first words spoken to anyone.

Mercury had woken with a start after that, and she had had to repeat the question, only slightly more accusingly this time around. Adûn, who had noticed the noise, had then melded his mind with hers, and together, the two of them had explained what had happened after she had passed out.

Mercury's description of what he had done to her and why had been thorough and without trying to either make what he had done appear more or less as the right choice at the time. It had been kind of like having a number of facts told to you without any instructions on what you were supposed to think of them.

Adûn had added privately to her that he had followed Mercury's process the entire way through and that no breach of her modesty had been made. His exact words had been, _his gaze never wavered from the task at hand, and he only realized the impropriety of your undressing after his not-blood-daughter made him aware of it_.

Loivissa was still unsure of whether she should be relieved or insulted at the fact that taking a peek had never crossed his mind.

Anyway, after that, Loivissa had healed her wounds with magic and a bit of strength from Adûn, and Mercury had brought her up to speed on the events so far, before he had demanded that she go back to sleep. She had done so, but in her own cot this time, as Mercury had looked like he needed sleep far more than she did.

All in all, Mercury had only spent three days in Tel Noach, which was primarily divided between taking the siege equipment off the walls and making them mobile, and installing a garrison to supervise the city after his departure.

The citizens had strangely enough been grateful for Mercury taking the city, as several ships filled to the brim with food had arrived in their port shortly after, whereupon the food had been distributed free of charge to the starved citizens.

When Loivissa had heard about it, she had been confused, as he had never even mentioned the ships to her. It would have made the last month slightly more bearable if she had known that such measures had been taken to alleviate the citizens afterwards, but Mercury had dodged the subject whenever she had approached it.

This newfound gratefulness and loyalty had ensured that the garrison had been almost insignificantly small. It had been so small in fact, that Loivissa doubted that they would even be able to hold the city if any major riots ever occurred, but Mercury seemed confident that there would be no such riots.

After the three days in Tel Noach, Mercury had marched his army back south to an extremely quick stop at Hydronium, before he had then marched them west along the main road. They were currently camped halfway between Hydronium and the first crossroad west of Hydronium.

"Is this really necessary?", Loivissa asked slightly uncomfortably from her position in front of her Mercury's desk in his tent, "…and are you even listening to what I am saying?"

"Aha, now turn around", Mercury simply said from his position behind his desk, while simultaneous going over some paperwork, though Loivissa would never know how he managed to do both things at once.

Loivissa compliantly did so in her new steel armour, which they had only recently received. It was a full set of steel plate armour that had been sculpted to cover almost her entire body with a minimal amount of room between it and her skin.

Its cuirass was actually two plates that had been fixed together by some bendable metal device in the top, while the sides were fastened to each other by leather straps at the bottom. This made it so that in order to take the cuirass on and off, she had to loosen the straps at her sides, before she could bend the front plate enough upwards to get her head through the opening.

"The assembly lines on your sides look exposed. Be sure to take care that no sword passes through them", Mercury finally said after she had turned around a few times, "although the problem should be rectified if you wore a chainmail underneath. How comfortable would you be with that?"

"It would slow me way too much down with all the weight", Loivissa responded, feeling very uncomfortable about how Mercury was dissecting her to look for weak spots with just his eyes, though she supposed that she should be happy about having dangers pointed out.

"Yes, I tried to have the smiths make the armour as light as possible, but they are not as good as the dwarves, or even close to the elves. How about you wear your armoured tunic underneath?", Mercury suggested.

"It might work, but I would need to try it on to check whether it even fits", Loivissa replied and began peeling off the steel armour plate, before she tossed her current tunic over her shoulder and reached for the armoured one.

It had been kind of weird for a while after knowing that Mercury could have seen her topless, but after a short while, Loivissa had discovered that if she ever even came close to showing what she would consider too much skin, Mercury would always have his gaze firmly planted on whatever work he had in front of him.

She had even tried changing her top tunic while inside his tent after a week and a half of testing how far she could go, during which he had not even once looked up. After that, she had figured out that he probably never would, and had therefore decided that every change of clothes, besides pants or undergarments, that was even the least bit easier doing in his tent, would be done in his tent.

Although Adûn had joked about it being a mating ritual, which had embarrassed Loivissa quite profoundly, she only thought of it as a game for her to either make Mercury finally put a stop to her actions or to catch him peeking, but so far, it seemed that she was losing the game. Pouting slightly at yet another loss, Loivissa put on the armoured tunic, refitted the plate armour on top of it and began stretching and turning around to see whether her movements were hindered by it.

"I do not seem to be constrained by it at all", she noted, and without any warning as to how or when he had moved behind her, Mercury's voice suddenly said, "good, let us test the weakness".

"Are you serious?", Loivissa questioned unbelievingly as she eyed the steel dagger in his hand, and still a bit jumpy at how he had gotten behind her without her notice.

"I would rather have it tested now than in an actual battle of life and death", Mercury argued with a shrug, "now turn around and face me and pretend that you are holding your sword like you would in a battle".

After a few seconds of hesitation, Loivissa had still not moved. It was not so much the fear of being stabbed that worried her, as it was the fear of Mercury stabbing her. In the end, the thing that convinced her was Adûn agreeing with Mercury in that he would rather have it done now, in safety, than have to watch her nearly die again.

When she had finally turned around and told him that she was ready, Mercury started experimentally twisting and craning his head to look for what Loivissa assumed was the best, or worst actually, angle.

"It is actually harder than I thought to find an angle that would hit you", Mercury commented after he had begun stabbing her in slow-motion several times, but always stopping before any contact was ever made, to try and find an angle that would be possible, "try turning around for a bit and let us say that I managed to catch you at another angle".

Loivissa did so without much hesitation this time, only to feel Mercury gently grab her arm and start moving it around with the hand not holding the dagger. Finally, he made a snort of triumph, as he found an angle that seemed to work for him.

"I think that I have one. From what I know of your fighting technique, it would not be entire impossible for you to be caught with your arms like this", Mercury commented, "now, I am going to try and stab you from this angle. It may hurt a little from the impact, but I need you to remain completely relaxed in case the dagger breaks through the tunic. Tensing or flinching would only make the cut worse. Are you ready?"

Loivissa took a few breaths to prepare herself, before she nodded that she was ready. Not a moment after she had nodded, she felt a force punch into her side, but unlike with the ra'zac's sword, there was no icy feeling of a blade piercing her this time.

"Excellent, I believe that unless you allow someone to thrust his sword straight into you from the side, you should be safe enough", Mercury said evidently relieved that no blood had been drawn, "as a reward for your compliance on this matter, I will allow you to ask me out about one thing. It can be anything from my past before Alagaësia to what my plans are for the future".

It was strange, but ever since the battle, Mercury had begun rewarding her with small tokens whenever she did something either difficult or something that she would not have done if he had not asked her to. It felt almost like a parent offering their child a treat for a job well done.

"I want to know what happened at the battle of Dread", Loivissa quickly answered. It was an event that people kept referring to, but she had never been told what exactly had happened, so her interest had been piqued quite a bit.

"Not the choice that I would have made if given such an opportunity, but alright, I will bite", Mercury commented and sat down behind his desk again, before he began narrating the events, like he was reading off some ancient myth and not a recent battle that he had been deeply involved in, "the battle of Dread occurred in the strait between the Isle of First and the Isle of Dread in what would have been the early spring in Alagaësia. I was still a captain back then, a rank that I was only given because I owned the ship that I sailed.

The actual battle went, let us say, less than well, as we received orders to storm right into the far numerically inferior enemy and board the ships as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, they had quite a lot more experience at naval warfare and had prepared the sea before our arrival.

Large amounts of oil had been spilled into the sea, and with the tide against us, it drifted towards us and away from the enemy ships, so when we had gotten in range, they lighted it. I will spare you the exact details, but it should be suffice to say that many ships burned within the first few minutes.

After that, confusion turned to chaos, as no directions were being given out on how to proceed. The few ships that made it around the burning wreckages were quickly sunk by either being rammed or having their hulls shot in.

Since Kilgharrah was already stationed at The Capital at the time, I had no help from him, but through some effort, I eventually managed to convince a few other captains to use the burning wreckages as shields, while we pushed them into the enemy formation.

Having a wooden ship push another burning wooden ship several hundred metres without your own ship catching on fire requires quite a bit of teamwork and hard effort by the crew, as you might imagine.

The manoeuvre took them by surprise, disrupted their formation and even managed to set a few on fire, but the most important part was that we had now opened a window for the other trapped ships to sail through unharmed, thereby stopping the bottleneck effect that the enemy had been counting on to win.

After that, our fleet managed to overwhelm the enemy. I was promoted to lieutenant commander for my ingenuity and heroism, and was given the ships that had helped me with my daring plan as my new fleet, although the Commander of the Autumnborn navy that gave them to me did tell me and the other captains that since they were so happy to obey orders from me, they could keep doing just that and see where it took them".

"They did not trust you?", Loivissa asked confused.

"They did to an extent, but I do not judge them for being wary of me", Mercury answered with a shrug, "I am different from anything that they have ever encountered, and even though, I managed to gather rites of passage to most of the major city states in Alalëa, it was not my only destination.

Years could go by between each visit to Alalëa, and decades between each visit to cities that I liked, so it was completely natural for me not to be trusted with a position of power within the military, especially since no one knew enough about me to determine whether I was even qualified for such a position. As I said previously; the only reason that I was granted the position of captain was because it was my ship".

"I suppose that that makes sense", Loivissa murmured, as she began letting her fingers roam over the armour that she was still wearing, when a thought hit her, "could you have one made for Adûn too? I honestly think that he needs it more than I do".

"I am afraid not", Mercury mumbled, as he began scribbling something on a piece of parchment.

"Why not? If the dökkálfar were willing to custom-make this armour for me, the dragon's so-called useless rider, and considering the value of dragons, then I assumed that it would have been next on the agenda", Loivissa inquired confused, while looking sternly at Mercury, who was still avoiding her gaze by choosing to look down on the paper that he was writing on.

"I had your armour made", Mercury simply answered without looking up.

"Oh", was all Loivissa could say as the implications hit her. If Mercury had personally ordered this for her, it likely meant that he had paid for it too, and since dragon armours were notoriously expensive, even back in Alagaësia, where the dwarves had molds for the individual pieces, the price to have it custom-made by someone that had never seen a dragon before would not only have been staggering, but it would also have taken a lot of time unless a LOT of smiths could be conscripted to work solely on that one project.

An uncomfortable silence reigned for a while after that. Mercury obviously had not meant to let her know that he had personally paid for a clearly very expensive armour, which kind of reminded Loivissa of when she and Naina had talked about how Mercury had been at raising her, where Naina had mentioned that he often preferred to let his actions speak for themselves without ever saying anything about them.

"So where did you learn to sew wounds?", Loivissa tried changing the subject.

"Once I realized that I would soon not be able to heal myself with magic, I began brushing up on the mundane ways of healing people", Mercury answered just as he put his quill back in its holder and held the parchment that he had written up to better reread it, "I taught Naina too, though the issue was less urgent with her since she would not have had any complications about letting other dökkálfar heal her, which was also why I unfortunately could not have them touch you, as you might have been healed with their skin and flesh, which might have then begun to war with the rest of your body".

"Hmm, I did not know that", Loivissa mused, "but my father healed my mother when she had been captured by Durza, and several other elves have healed humans?"

"Elven and human skin and flesh are similar enough that it apparently does not prove to be a concern, but all trained healers are taught the precise anatomy of the races, so that they know how to heal them with their own flesh and skin and, more importantly, what the differences are in what to heal", Mercury explained, "are your sister-in-law not a healer? You could have asked her".

"Celiste died early this summer", Loivissa said saddened at the memory, "she was on her way to help heal the people of Dras-Leona when her group was ambushed".

"I am sorry for your loss", Mercury said, and although he tried to sound saddened, Loivissa could tell that he was not really, not that he was glad either, simply indifferent, "how did Helen take it?"

"Not well", Loivissa answered, "she would not let go of me when we were departing Nolondil. She was afraid that she would not get to see me again".

"You will see her again", Mercury said adamantly with a determination that Loivissa hardly heard from him.

"You cannot be sure of that, remember that you said so yourself; no one is safe in a war", Loivissa tried to use his own argument against him.

"Loivissa, listen to me. . . .Again", Mercury almost spelled it out for her, "no matter what else happens, I will make sure that that comes to pass".

"It would have been more convincing if you had said so in the Ancient language", Loivissa tried to say as a jest to hide how touched she had really been by it.

"You know that I can bend the truth enough to say almost anything in the Ancient language, so why should it matter", Mercury shot back with a smirk, clearly picking up on her signals to let the matter be for now.

"Does the dökkálfar know that?", Loivissa asked with an arched eyebrow and a crooked smile on her lips.

"No, I think that it would probably freak them out", Mercury replied with a smug smirk.

"Yeah, you are probably right. It definitely alarmed me the first time my father warned me about it", Loivissa agreed, "what are you working on anyway? You have been rereading and rewriting that same piece of parchment for over an hour now".

"It is a request to borrow some of the ships from the Summerborn and the Winterborn navies to assault Atkins' harbours and crush their remaining fleet", Mercury answered, "I am afraid that as we move further and further westward, the threat of naval raids from Atkins will require me to post too many of my troops near the sea to secure my coastline, which would severely cripple any chance of actually pushing further inland, but unfortunately, the Summerborn navy is busy securing the Sea of Tel, while the entire Winterborn navy has been snatched by the Supreme Commander to secure his own coastline".

"You think that you can convince him to let you borrow them?", Loivissa asked.

"It is not very likely that he will let the Summerborn go for fear of weakening The Capital enough to be retaken, because if it is retaken, then it is unlikely that we will be able to take it again, as we only managed to do so the first time around because it was our very first target, so they had no warning at all, and he is even less likely to let go of his own navy", Mercury replied with a shrug, "but it is still worth a shot to at least try".

"And if it does not?", Loivissa inquired worried.

"Then I guess that I will eventually need to create my own navy to deal with it", Mercury said half-jokingly.

"By the way, I have been thinking about something for a while, but have not dared to ask about it because it is quite private for you", Mercury suddenly changed the subjects again.

"Shoot", Loivissa said simply, as she could not come up with anything that Mercury might ask about that would be beyond what she wished to share.

"When we first journeyed together many decades ago, I got the impression that one of your highest wishes was to have a child, and from your descriptions of your interaction with your niece, that has not seemed to change much, so my question is this then; why did you never try to find a mate to start a family with? Eight decades is a long time, even for elves. Surely someone must have caught your eye", Mercury asked with his undivided attention upon her.

"You mean that you never knew?", Loivissa said highly uncomfortable with this particular subject, "about what happened to me after the shade…stabbed me".

"I had lost a lot of blood and was slightly delusional at the time, but I still seem to recall almost all of what transpired between your stabbing and until you were healed again?", Mercury fished for information, as he clearly had no idea of what she was talking about.

"The shade's cut…it-, Celiste told me that I could never bear a child after that", Loivissa finally stammered out with the beginnings of tears in her eyes at the mere memory.

"I had no idea. I am sorry that I pried", Mercury said and clearly meant it this time, before he moved up from his desk and made to stand in front of her, where he laid both of his hands on her cheeks and forced her to look up at him as he wiped away her tears with his thumbs, "I am going to let you in on a little secret that not even Kilgharrah knows about".

"What is it?", Loivissa asked , while trying to rein in her out-of-control emotions.

"I used to steal cookies from the cookie jar when I was a child", Mercury said with an understanding smile, "the caretakers never did understand where they all went, and though they tried to catch me, they never did".

"Hehe, somehow I cannot imagine you as a mischievous child with your hand in the jar at all", Loivissa laughed at the story, feeling much more relieved than she had been before, when a thought suddenly occurred to her, "wait, why did you say caretakers? Were you in an orphanage?"

"I think we have had enough stories for today", Mercury dodged her question and moved back away from her and towards his desk.

Loivissa already missed the comfort that his hands had given, and was just about to say so, when Adûn suddenly warned her within her head, _be careful dear, you have company_.

Sure enough, a knock was heard almost immediately after, which quickly prompted Mercury to say, "_enter_", after which a dökkálfar followed by Naina came inside, where they found Mercury leaning on the desk and Loivissa standing in full armour in front of it and looking like she thought herself misplaced.

The dökkálfar did a quick bow to Mercury, before he eyed her appearance and said, "_has news already reached you, my Commander?_"

"_News of what?_", Mercury asked, "_I assume that you are the leader of the scouts that I sent my aide de camp out to find?_"

"_Yes, and you will be very interested to know that we have discovered the enemy's main force about two days away from here_", the man reported, "_we believe their numbers to be around 30.000 strong_".

"_Understood, have a messenger be sent to give a message to their leaders. Tell them that we are waiting for them on the plains a little south from here_", Mercury instructed, "_but remember that if the messenger thinks himself in danger of being killed after he delivers the message to them personally, then let him rather drop the message on the road for them to find_".

"_It will be done at once, my Commander_", the dökkálfar said and curtsied, before quickly leaving the tent.

"What? I do not want the road to be damaged from our battle, I still have need of it, and the lethrblaka would never back off from a challenge such as this", Mercury merely said as Naina and Loivissa both looked at him expectantly.


	20. Lightning never strikes twice

Hmm, I thought about making side-stories every time I want to off major characters from the main story, and then only have it be mentioned briefly that they died in the main, but then I finished laughing...

So now I will bring the thunder(or steal it)

* * *

**Lightning never strikes twice**

**Mercury POV  
**Most people prayed to whatever deities that they believed in to protect them before a battle. Most people did not want to incur the full wrath of the Ra'zac Empire solely upon themselves. Most people would have thought twice about engaging an army outnumbering your own 3 to 1.

Mercury was not most people.

He did not believe in any deities, and in fact fully believed that whatever came next was the result of the choices made by countless of regular people. He was not intimidated by having the Ra'zac Empire's wrath solely upon him; no, he was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of it. He had not only wanted to engage the enemy army, which outnumbered his own 3 to 1, but had even invited them here.

The bait had been seen, the enemy had leapt before looking and now the trap had been sprung.

Numbers were no guarantee to victory. Training and discipline played an even larger part than numbers, and a good commander could turn even the most outnumbered army into the winner if he knew enough about his enemy and his own forces.

These were points that had been proven many times throughout history, both in this world and his former one. The training and discipline of the roman legionaries had outweighed the failures of foolish commanders and superior enemy numbers many times, but a truly good commander, like Hannibal, had still been able to win over a better trained, better equipped and numerically superior roman force at the battle of Cannae with only his ragtag army of mercenaries and a few veterans.

Mercury's army was better trained, better equipped, better disciplined and had a better commander than his enemy's army had. Their mere presence here had already revealed that much to Mercury. Any decent commander would never have rushed forward to meet his enemy's invitation, at least not without investigating why the supposedly inferior enemy suddenly was so bold.

This was why Mercury knew that he would win today, even when many in his own army still had some lingering doubts about it. The only question was whether he would win the battle but lose the war, or whether he would rise to the challenge and win both the battle and the war.

A complete and utter victory here would mean that no more counteroffensives could be made for many months, but if he won the battle with too many casualties and without destroying the main force of the enemy, then he would have to redo his entire strategy and forget about taking any cities until the conditions again were prime to do so.

But now was not the time to think of such things. Right now, the two armies stood on opposite sides of a flat grass field, where they were sizing each other up.

Mercury had deployed 14 of his 20 Centurions in a straight line formation with 5 Centurions on each of the flanks and only 4 in the middle, although they stood a little farther apart in there, so as to not show this fact too much. The remaining 3.000 men, spread out over 6 Centurions, were in reserve in case he needed to reinforce someone. His siege engines, consisting of a few onagers and several ballistae, were still hidden under blankets to look like cargo trains, as they had been ever since Tel Noach. Mercury had no intentions of letting the enemy know of these before it was already too late.

The enemy force had three times more men than he did, but their straight line formation was only slightly longer than his, although it was quite a lot thicker. They likely believed that they could punch through his formation by applying enough men on a few select spots. Not so few lethrblaka also glided above the enemy army, likely hoping to kill Loivissa and Adûn with sheer numbers alone, a not so impossible feat, while the remaining would spread havoc among Mercury's army.

"It is sad that such a beautiful day is about to be marred by so much bloodshed", Loivissa commented in her new steel armour from atop Adûn and directly beside Mercury.

Since Mercury had been able to wait for his enemy to come to him, he had had a wooden tower installed as the only point of height on this flat grassland. It was primarily done to let him be able to better keep track of what was happening, as it was often quite difficult to oversee armies clashing from the ground.

"The rain will wash the blood away soon enough", Mercury answered in his normal tone of voice, while he himself was wearing his customary leather armour with his sword on his back, although he had taken the hood and cloth in front of his face down.

"Way to cheer me up", Loivissa said sarcastically. She had been doing that more and more recently.

"I already made my inspiration speech", Mercury simply commented. It had not been optional.

Mercury could not remember much of it anymore, but it had been something about letting the enemy be broken upon the dökkálfar shields like tides upon rocks, and how victory now would signal the end of the raiding of Alalëa. It had not been that good of a speech, public speaking was not one of Mercury's strengths, but he still had the manuscript for future reference though.

"How you ever got an entire civilization to start a war alongside you, I will never know", Loivissa jested.

Mercury chose not to answer that comment, as he watched his messenger run out into the no man's land between the two armies, where he loudly made his proclamation, "and so the day of reckoning has finally come upon you, but we are not cruel, as your masters would have you believe. Hear this message, you enslaved humans and oppressed of the lethrblaka", the last part had solely been Mercury's doing, as he was interested to hear what they would say to such a thing, "we are merciful and willing to accept and shelter all those who would but lay down their arms now and surrender, so that we may all go back to our families and friends and live the rest of our lives in peace".

A sizzling arrow that only missed thanks to the messenger's wards, was the immediate, if predictable, answer to the message, but it was still a custom for the dökkálfar to at least give the offer. Now came the interesting part though, as a rider from their army soon rode out to make his proclamation, now that Mercury's messenger had fallen back.

"**Long have the mighty lethrblaka, rulers of our rulers, tolerated your race's existence on your little island out of the goodness of their hearts**", the messenger started.

_Interesting start, trying to cow the enemy to surrender, and in the Ancient language no less_, Mercury mused.

"**But your presence here today and your continued besmirching of the beloved home of our mighty ra'zac rulers tests their patience**", the messenger picked up again, "**leave our islands now, while your lives are still granted to you, or be sure to know that after we are done with you, your homeland will be next. Your wives shall be killed and eaten, but our lords are merciful and willing to let your children and all of their children to come, live out their lives as slaves**".

Suddenly, Mercury did not feel so bad about not doing such a good inspirational speech. The enemy was clearly far better at giving his men a reason to fight than he could ever be, as clearly evidenced by the angry murmurs of blood that could be heard from even Mercury's tower. Perhaps he should take pointers from them?

"And so havoc has been cried and the dogs of war unleashed. Would you like to give them our response Adûn?", Mercury requested calmly.

Adûn wasted no time, as he raised himself onto his two hind legs and made a terror-inducing roar with a sea-blue coloured flame-tongue the size of a small river to follow it up with. Mercury had to cover his ears, so as to not be deafened by the roar.

"That should be enough for now. Let us let the messenger return in peace, in spite of their breach of conduct", Mercury ordered in his normal tone of voice.

"Will you be taking the field?", Loivissa questioned with a slight bit of nervousness, after Adûn had lowered himself again.

"No, not unless I absolutely have to", Mercury answered her. It was true; Mercury had no intentions of joining the battle now or in the future; not unless something went terribly wrong and his presence there would be the deciding factor. He was a Commander, and as such, he was far more valuable behind the battle than in the battle.

"I see", Loivissa murmured, and although she appeared to be slightly relieved, she also appeared to be slightly…disappointed?

It was then that Mercury remembered that many of the Alagaësian leaders liked to ride out into battle among the first line of their soldiers. Mercury had always thought it a foolish concept, as any morale gained from the act would have been turned to all the more sorrow if an arrow or sword managed to end said leader's life, not to mention that no one, Mercury included, could concentrate on, let alone even overview, the battle as a whole and determine where reinforcements where needed, while simultaneously fighting for your life in a life or death struggle. Kings were after all not sent into the fray along with pawns unless all the towers, rooks and bishops were needed elsewhere.

"I want you two to make a pass on the soldiers", Mercury began to instruct, "they should not be used to dealing with dragons, so they will not likely be protected against Adûn's flames. When the lethrblaka tries to engage you, I want you to flee back behind this army. If they do not follow, return and repeat the process until they do. You may only engage the lethrblaka if absolutely necessary, but you cannot afford to be pinned down by them, or else, you will surely fall".

_You want us to make the lethrblaka specifically target us_, Adûn summarized, _are you sure about the wisdom of this? They are many, and we cannot take on that many by ourselves._

"Yes, the lethrblaka are an issue that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible", Mercury answered unfazed by their doubts, "if they decide not to engage you at all, then their army will simply be chipped away bit by bit until the soldiers either rout or recklessly charge. You will both have to trust that I know what I am doing".

"We do", Loivissa finally said and they took off with a mighty blast of wind.

It was strange. Mercury had never had any qualms about using live people as bait before. Men, women and children of all races had been fair game as long as the benefits outweighed the possible losses. Hell, he had just used this entire army, himself, Adûn and Loivissa included, as bait to lure the Ra'zac Empire in, but somehow, he still felt an uncommon unwillingness to use Adûn and Loivissa as living bait in an actual battle. It was an unwillingness that he had not felt before the battle of Tel Noach.

_No, I cannot allow any unnecessary emotions to hinder me now_, Mercury thought and squashed down the uncommon feeling, before he turned to his nearest advisor, who was also in charge of their siege equipment, and said, "_unveil and prepare my tools of war to fire on my signal_".

The dökkálfar quickly complied and the deadly machines were uncloaked and loaded, ready to fire at Mercury's signal. Their crews had been directly stolen from the remnants of the Autumnborn navy, so as to have the most experience from the start.

It was during this time that Loivissa and Adûn made a dive from their course towards the lethrblaka and down towards the enemy front line and incinerated most of it with one mighty blast of fire.

The lethrblaka overhead were quick to react, as they also dived and tried to surround the pair, but Adûn had already made his retreat before the net could be tightened. The lethrblaka followed a good while back towards Mercury's army, before they suddenly broke off pursuit, evidently being nervous about the entire matter.

When Adûn and Loivissa discovered that their pursuers had turned around, they also made a quick turn and headed back towards the enemy line. The lethrblaka seemed to have learned by now, as instead of waiting for Loivissa and Adûn to come to them, they flew out towards the pair this time around.

Adûn blew fire on one lethrblaka, blinding it enough to slip past it in the confusion, as he made yet another dive and incinerated a good portion of the second line as well, before retreating as he had before, only that the lethrblaka dared to go a little further out this time before breaking off pursuit.

_I wonder if I will have to calm her conscience about this afterwards?_, Mercury mused as Loivissa and Adûn made a third pass on the enemy, _incinerating this many people cannot be easy for her_.

Although Mercury could not see it, he was sure that arrows flew towards the pair by the hundreds, which had to take a lot of energy to stop. Then again, he had had her transfer the energy stored in his own ring into the gem in the hilt of Aiedail, so it was almost just as likely that the enemy would run out of arrows, before Loivissa ran out of energy. No, he was far more concerned with the lethrblaka trying to ensnare the two than any feeble arrows fired towards them.

On their third escape from the lethrblaka, something new happened. It was only briefly, but Mercury was sure that he saw sea-blue lighting shoot out from the back of Adûn and hit one of the lethrblaka squarely in the chest, after which the creature stopped in mid-air, before folding its wings together like a dead spider and plummeting towards the ground with a crunch.

It had had to have taken a lot of energy to summon that, have it break through the lethrblaka's wards and then kill it, and it was against Mercury's instruction of not engaging the lethrblaka unless absolutely necessary, but seeing as it resulted in the lethrblaka apparently becoming bloodthirsty enough to charge right after them without any hints of breaking off pursuit, Mercury would say that it had been a good call.

"_Let the ones responsible for the ballistae and the archers hear me now_", Mercury ordered, and not soon after, said persons were listening in through Mercury's advisors, "_fire all ballistae as soon as my apprentice has cleared your field of vision. Follow it up with a barrage of arrows_".

Adûn came flying at them at a breakneck pace with a horde of angry lethrblaka on his tail, but as soon as they passed Mercury's tower, a number of loud twangs could be heard as a shower of two metre wooden projectiles were launched directly into the furious lethrblakas.

The lethrblakas desperately, but futilely, tried to stop their flight or avoid the projectiles, but it was too late, as the many projectiles crashed into them. Some were stopped by the wards around the lethrblakas, but it took a lot of energy to keep up a ward this far away from the caster, so the wards were soon broken, either by the death of the caster or the willing release of the ward, and a few projectiles ended up piercing the lethrblaka horde.

That would have been all the damage done to the lethrblaka before their retreat, if not for the hail of arrows that assailed them immediately after, now that the wards no longer had effect. Many lethrblaka joined their fallen brethren in folding their wings together like a spider and plummeting down to the ground, and the few that were spared this fate immediately routed and fled.

Now, the enemy army tried a charge, although they had to have been demoralized some by seeing their most powerful members be utterly crushed. The ground shook from the force of an estimated 25.000 men storming across the battlefield in a full on charge.

"_I want the onagers and the ballistae to fire at the same time on the two flanks when both are in range_", Mercury instructed, "_move the archers out five metres and have them prepare to fire one volley on the flanks at their Centurions' estimate, after which they can fires as many arrows on the flanks as they can manage before I tell them to retreat_".

His orders were carried out with complete efficiency thanks to his improved command structure, and soon enough, loud groans of pain could be heard from the two flanks as ballistae and onager alike fired their deadly projectiles into the tightly packed enemy ranks. A longer and thinner line would have lessened the damage done, but also revealed it better to both sides, as no visible change in the enemy lines could be seen from the damage so far.

It was not long after that arrows started flying into the enemy formation, which now visibly reduced their numbers. The enemy archers tried to fire back, but since a shield-man had been given to each archer as their frater, Mercury's archers and their fraters were covered underneath a shield at least a metre and a half in height whenever the archer was not firing. This reduced the enemy arrow damage to an almost non-existent size, and soon enough, the enemy stopped firing all together, likely having run out of arrows to fire thanks to Loivissa and Adûn's efforts.

"_Have the archers retreat now and_ _tell the flanks to charge outwards and meet the enemy flanks head on, while the centre is to stretch itself to cover more ground_", Mercury ordered calmly as the enemy came within a dangerous running distance of his still firing archers, before he turned to Loivissa and Adûn, who had recently retaken their previous position beside him, and grimly said in the Ancient language, so as to both make sure that nothing was misunderstood and that his advisors knew what he was saying, "**make sure that no reinforcements make it in time to help**".

The pair took off just as Mercury's flanks began their diagonal charge towards the weakened enemy flanks, while the centre spread out and braced themselves to stop the incoming wave of bodies that would soon splash upon their wall of shields. With his keen eyesight and his position atop the tower, Mercury could clearly see the fright on the faces of the men in the enemy flanks, as these much taller and frightening creatures stormed right at them with terrible cries of war and their two-handed longswords held in only one hand.

After having been harassed by a dragon's flame, having concentrated bombardment done upon them by ballistae and onagers, being filled like a needle pillow with arrows and then having these frightening creatures charge right into you, it was no wonder that the flanks broke almost immediately and routed.

"_Half of the flanks are to pursue the routing men, while the other half encircles the enemy centre_", Mercury quickly instructed as the flanks broke, while his own centre held steady, having not even given one step to the enemy mass converging on it.

If the flanks had been quick to rout, the centre was even more so when it realized that its flanks were completely gone and that it had been surrounded entirely. Some tried and failed to break out, others kept on fighting to the death, but most threw down their arms and surrendered with a domino effect.

_It truly is a shame that no horses live on Alalëa_, Mercury mused as he watched the reinforcements, which had already been harassed by Loivissa and Adûn, turn tail and flee when they saw the state of their main force, _I would have liked to run down the remaining enemy men now, while they are in disarray_.

He could technically have Loivissa and Adûn do the job, except that that would likely be too much against Loivissa's nature to risk ordering her to do so, and although he did have the choice of forcing them to do so, he would much prefer never to actually have to use that ill-advised pledge against them.

Below him, the ones not already in pursuit were busy either cheering for their victory or making sure that the prisoners were properly bound and searched for any further weaponry. Mercury had already decided that any and all war prisoners were to be kept alive and unharmed, before they would be escorted back east to work on the farms or with whatever specialized profession that they had worked with previously.

Most of them had after all been farmers until they had been conscripted a short while ago, so being able to return to their profession, even if it was not their own farm, would definitely be much more appealing to most of them than trying to go back to war after suffering such a horrendous defeat, and the few that still actively resisted would get the choice of rotting in a dungeon or being sailed out to sea where no one would be able to see them walk the plank. Doing it like this would also give some much needed goodwill with the people of this country, which would reduce the risk of revolts behind the frontline.

"_Have the forces in pursuit regroup back here and form scouting parties to harass the enemy and follow them until I know where they are heading_", Mercury instructed as he started to head down the tower with Naina one step behind him, "_I want a full report of what supplies we have gained from the enemy, whether we need to order more arrows or enough of the ones used by both sides can be reused to replace the broken ones, how many prisoners we have taken, how many wounded and killed we have, how fast the Centurions estimate we can move out again and whether they have any remarks upon the efficiency of some drills as opposed to others_".

"_It will be done, my Commander_", the awed advisors said without moving from their starting positions.

Mercury knew that although many in his own army had doubted him before, most of his advisors included, no one would doubt that they would win with him at the helm after this battle, and judging from his initial overview of the battle, the number of friendly casualties should be quite small, perhaps even below thirty. All but one, destroying the entire enemy army all at once, of his objectives had been completed.

It was not often that Mercury allowed himself to do this, but on his way to congratulate Loivissa and Adûn on a job remarkably well done, with his black cloak billowing in the wind as he went and his face out of sight from any curious glances, he allowed himself to smirk unrestrictedly at his accomplishment.


	21. Crossroads

On this glorious Mammoth Monday, several roads converge and minor hardly significant details are decided and resolved. Nothing important really.

* * *

**Crossroads**

**Mercury POV(a week later)  
**Getting his army ready to move out again after the recent battle had taken three days, and although the process could have been quickened a lot by leaving the wounded behind, Mercury had had no need to rush things. This meant that they had set up camp at the first crossroad west of Hydronium just yesterday evening.

His scouts had informed him that the tattered remains of the enemy main force was still fleeing south on the road to Druck on a continuous forced march, leaving quite a few to die at the side of the road as they succumbed to fatigue and old wounds, though the enemy's extreme forced march might have something to do with the fact that nearly every time they stopped, Mercury's scouting parties would nibble at them and then disappear before they could form a counterattack.

From his most recent reports, Mercury estimated that so far, more than a third of the roughly 7.000 that managed to escape capture or death at the battle of Red Grass, as his soldiers had so imaginatively begun calling it due to there being no landmarks and the high enemy death toll, had either deserted, been left to die on the road or been killed by his own scouting parties.

With their choice to flee south to Druck, Mercury believed that the enemy remnants were likely to stay there until either being called elsewhere or until they believed that Mercury's own army had forgotten about them and moved further west.

He based this assumption on the fact that if they wanted to just flee west to try and reform their army, then they would have taken the direct route, instead of the long detour that going to Druck would give them, but just in case he was wrong, he had sent another scouting party west towards the crossroad near Viana, where they were to observe the comings and goings on the road without being noticed.

Still, despite his most recent victory, Mercury was at a crossroad in more ways than just the physical one that he was currently camping on. He knew that he would have to split up his army to best exploit the lack of anyone to openly oppose him, and he also knew that the larger part of it, along with all of his siege equipment, should go south to capture Druck and deal with the remnants of the Ra'zac Empire's army once and for all, while the other part would head west and then north to capture Tel Rascian, but by splitting up his army, he would need to appoint someone to lead the other part of it, as Mercury could not be in both places at the same time.

It was not the matter of not having any suitable candidates ready, as a few of his advisors were likely to be competent enough, but more the matter of which target Mercury himself should pursue. Ideally, Mercury would like to go south to Druck, as that was the largest threat, but capturing a city quickly without siege equipment and without suffering major losses would also be a difficult task to accomplish.

There would be no time to lay siege to Tel Rascian until it surrendered, especially since the Summerborn navy had not stopped them from fishing, as they had done with Tel Noach. Mercury already had ideas as to how to deal with both cities, but he was still deciding on which one to go after.

_I think that I will postpone on deciding until after my scheduled meeting with the Supreme Commander_, Mercury mused and began pushing the thoughts of it away, along with the map of the main isle that he had been staring at for what seemed like hours now.

He would soon have his first meeting with the Supreme Commander, though through magical mirrors, since shortly before the battle of Red Grass. Although Mercury did send reports concerning his progress and so on every other day or so, they only had a few scheduled face-to-face, or as close as you could get given the distance, meetings every month.

"You finally decided where we are headed?", Loivissa asked curiously from her lounging position on his bed.

The last time Mercury had checked, she had been in the midst of reading a book written in the dökkálfar alphabet with said book in one hand and Mercury's dictionary in the other, and from a quick glance at her, she had only just stopped doing so to ask Mercury her question.

"I have finally decided to postpone deciding until my meeting with the Supreme Commander is over", Mercury responded as he started to reach for another report that demanded his attention in an attempt to pass time.

"How decisive of you", Loivissa tried to tease him, but since she got no response, she quickly followed it up with something slightly more serious, "where is Naina anyway? I feel like she has been missing from our little group more and more recently?"

"She asked for some free time, and since I had nothing that required her immediate attention, I gave it to her as long as she would not let it delay her other duties", Mercury responded, as he began perusing over the report from his garrison at Tel Noach.

In truth, her more frequent disappearances did unnerve Mercury. The reason for this was quite simple; Mercury had begun noticing that Naina's spare time was used either close to or around a certain male dökkálfar.

Now, Mercury had never before interfered in any parts of who she was and was not allowed to see on a romantic level, as he first and foremost believed that it was important for her to learn by herself, combined with the fact that Mercury did not exactly believe that he himself was the best suited to determine such matters of the heart, especially considering how his last romance turned out; going from intimate to a decades long battle to kill each other was not exactly the best example of a healthy relationship.

And it was not like this was Naina's first relationship either, or her first potential heartbreak for that matter. No, the reason for Mercury's concern was rather the male in question than the prospect of any relationship. After snooping a little around, he had found the male's name to be Vardo Lilirith, and unfortunately, that was not the only thing that he had discovered.

Vardo had actually been aboard one of the other ships in Mercury's previous fleet until he had been transferred to Mercury's army by someone that Mercury guessed to be Naina, as he certainly did not recall ordering it. Mercury had never taken much note of the guy back then, but after some thought, he had remembered that his first and only impression of him had been that he had been willing to hit on anything female and breathing.

This had been further evidenced by the fact that he had once, while still on the way back from Alagaësia, tried to unabashedly hit on Loivissa, although he quickly and apparently violently learned not to do that. Neither Loivissa nor the male had ever mentioned a word of this to Mercury, but he had still managed to catch a few rumours concerning a broken jaw and an unexpected flight near the water's edge in the claws of Adûn.

And now, Vardo had moved on to Naina, though he had been far more discreet about it this time around. Still, Mercury feared that Naina might be in for yet another heartbreak, which would mean that he would need to comfort her; a task that he distinctively disliked doing.

Mercury could still remember her first heartbreak a little under a decade ago, where she had broken down in tears and had only slowly improved over the following three weeks. The duration of the heartbreaks went down over time, but the first few days of her crying and him having to somehow convince her that life went on, never changed.

Mercury did not believe himself to be properly suited to play that role at all, the role of a comforting mother-figure, but every time his thoughts led him in that direction, he would think of what had happened to her real mother, then force down even the slightest bit of dislike at the task and do it to the best of his abilities without a single complaint.

Still, Naina seemed to be particularly fond of the male…

_I think that I will induct him into my Varangian Guard to better be able to study his personality and keep an eye on him_, Mercury mused silently, _he is on the list of potential candidates for it anyway, so it will not even be too out of place of a promotion…and if he does end up cheating or otherwise hurting my Naina, then I can always make him wish that he had been relegated permanently to the frontline_.

This did not mean that Mercury would do something like that if they split up on good terms, or just as long as the cause of the breakup was not caused by him mistreating or cheating on Naina in any way. After quickly writing a note to himself to look into the matter, Mercury returned to reading the rest of his report.

Not long after that, the mirror on Mercury's desk finally came alive with the image of the Supreme Commander in it. Out of the corner of his eye, Mercury noticed that Loivissa had noticed it as well, and was in the middle of putting the books away. She would not be actively participating in the upcoming conversation, but she would surely be listening in on it.

After quickly doing the necessary introductions, the Supreme Commander started the conversation by saying, "_firstly, I would like to properly congratulate you on your most recent victory, the battle of Red Grass, is it?_"

"_Thank you, it was a name given to it by my soldiers_", Mercury thanked the Supreme Commander as protocol dictated, "_but from what I hear, I should congratulate you on not so few victories too_".

"_Yes, everything appears to happen on schedule. I, myself, am actually just in the midst of laying siege to Geoffry at this moment_".

"_I see, then have you considered the proposal that I sent you?_", Mercury inquired neutrally, though without much hope for it, "_after all, I cannot move further inland after Druck and Tel Rascian has been taken as things stand right now. Raids from Atkins would be a problem to our food supply, not to mention that the enemy could use this disadvantage to transport troops behind our lines_".

"_I am afraid that I can spare no ships from my own navy, as they are soon to begin an invasion of the Isle of Wright_", the Supreme Commander started saying, just as Mercury had expected that he would, "_and without the support of the Winterborn navy, the number of ships required from the Summerborn navy would exceed what we can spare in order to patrol the Sea of Tel_".

"_But without intervention, I will be forced to halt my advance, and if I do that, then I will not only lose my momentum and give the enemy time to breathe, but it could also draw unwanted attention to other regions_", Mercury began to argue, though he knew that once the Supreme Commander had decided on something, it was practically set in stone.

"_Yes, the matter is something that must be dealt with as soon as possible_", the Supreme Commander said while nodding, "_I do have one possible option for us to explore though_".

"_Then I would very much like to hear about it_", Mercury responded docilely, although he was practically certain what it was, but this was just the game that needed to be played when dealing with such people.

"_It is simple; we install a government to govern these isles_", the Supreme Commander explained, "_with a friendly government, one that the ordinary people of these isles would approve of, we could begin to convert many of their civilian vessels for a new navy under this government's control. It is an option that has so far been barred for us because of our foreign looks and ways, but with a legitimate government to look up to for stability and safety, I am sure that we could get enough people to flock to the cause to alleviate enough ships from the Summerborn navy to help out the Autumnborn navy_".

"_Yes, that could be true, but it would also mean that taxes could begin to be collected from our captured cities, which would primarily go to funding this new navy and otherwise start ensuring order again_", Mercury further explained the consequences of such an action, "_though we would have to be sure that said government would be both somewhat identifiable with the ordinary citizen, which would exclude any dökkálfar to be selected, and that the one in charge would not turn on us when we ask the individual to guard his or hers own cities_".

"_You would have him or her replace our loyal men in the cities with his or hers own conscripts to be able to use them elsewhere?_", the Supreme Commander asked, though Mercury was pretty sure that not much that had been said so far was news to any of the two, even though they had never openly discussed it before.

"_Essentially yes, although a volunteer force would be much preferred, as showing the citizens that their lives will slowly go back to normal if they just stay calm will lessen the chances of them rebelling_", Mercury conceded, "_though all of this still leads us back to the question of who would be able to fill that role_".

"_Yes, the choosing of the candidate must be made cautiously, as a too weak one will easily be toppled after we are gone, and then a new Ra'zac Empire might emerge_", the Supreme Commander agreed, "_although if we give a strong but not loyal citizen the crown, then that person might help us now, but then turn on us when the chance comes for him or her to keep their power but expel both the ra'zac and us_".

"_Yes, those are all points to consider, but we must also be aware of whether the public's opinion on our candidate will be one of a usurper or someone that actually has a legitimate claim to the throne_", Mercury argued, "_for instance, our candidate's claim could be augmented by the crown of Palancar, the last human king of the Ra'zac Empire, which I have in my possession_".

"_Yes, I remember you once talking about this with my predecessor and how it amused you that the blood of Palancar still ran within both the earls of the place called Carvahall, as well as in the rulers of the new dragon order, and their children_", the Supreme Commander commented.

Loivissa gave an involuntary yelp as she realized that the Supreme Commander was talking about her, but a discreet hand-signal from Mercury calmed her down enough to not immediately demand to get a proper explanation.

"_Though that statement is true, I do not think that the people here would count a washed out centuries old bloodline to an ancient king of theirs as being enough on its own to make a claim for the throne_", Mercury calmly argued, "_though it would definitely improve upon the candidate's claim if a connection to both the crown of Palancar and either a direct tie to the old King Palancar could be established or the consent of such an individual could be given_".

"_I suppose that that is true, and since such a descendant is in your service, both could be accomplished easily enough_", the Supreme Commander agreed, which earned a sigh of relief from Loivissa, before he continued, "_assuming of course that you would be willing to part with the crown and that your apprentice would give her consent to our choice_".

"_As for myself, I can say that although I have spent many long years and invested much gold in uncovering its whereabouts, I would be willing to part with the crown if it improved our cause, for an appropriate fee of course_", Mercury calmly said, as if that crown had not taken decades of hard searching to find that would have made anyone that was not borderline obsessed with it, give up decades before, "_but as for my apprentice, she will have to judge the individual for herself, before I can tell you if she will give her consent_".

"_Of course, of course, I would after all not have you robbed with all that you have already given us in this war_", the Supreme Commander nodded in consent, "_though that also brings forth the question of what exactly were to happen between the new government and our city states after the war. You know that it is an almost unprecedented event for us dökkálfar to put aside our citizenships and join together without division, so if we were to return empty-handed, then the city states that lost more than others would grumble about who gained the most from the war_".

"_That would certainly need to be addressed as well, and if I may suggest so, I would suggest that appropriate war compensations would be given to the city states by the new government in accordance with the number of lives lost_", Mercury suggested.

"_That would solve the problem of division_", the Supreme Commander agreed, "_but compensation should also be given to the coastal city states that were raided for centuries_".

_Such a city state as you are Anax of_, Mercury mused but kept his tongue, as he instead choice to say, "_of course some compensation should be given, but even a fraction of the total amount would still be a severe blow to the new government's economy, which could potentially lead to revolts and a new not so friendly leader. Furthermore, in order to lessen the chance of this happening, we should postpone the actual payments until some years after we have gotten this country under control and returned to our lives, so as to give the new leadership a chance to calm their populace and get their economy back on track_".

Just as Mercury had finished saying this, he felt Loivissa and Adûn request entry into his mind, which he quickly granted them.

_Are you two leaving anything up for debate with the one that is actually chosen to lead this country?_, Loivissa asked.

_I concur with my rider, it seems that you two are setting the complete agenda and then expect to hand it over to whoever you end up choosing, but if such a person was to fulfil your criteria of not being too weak and submissive, then he or she would certainly wish to put their own thoughts into it_, Adûn concurred.

_Dökkálfar politics are just as, if not more, intricate than the elven ones, a trait that I suppose that they got from that side of the family tree_, Mercury mentally said to the two, while he kept his eyes on the Supreme Commander, who was still mulling over his most recent suggestions, _if you have not noticed it until now, then I should probably tell you that it is usually preferred among them, when dealing with politics of this sort, to settle on what to do on all matters before actually selecting their respective official representatives. We may skirt around the selection, as we did with the crown of Palancar and his blood relatives' consent, but that is usually only done to help with the process of who to choose, not actually choosing the one._

_Strange notions_, Adûn commented, and Mercury could feel that Loivissa agreed with it, but his attention was quickly snapped back to his conversation, as the Supreme Commander finally said, "_it is true that demanding such immediate payment would be undoable and would inevitably lead to revolt, but neither will the city states be complacent with receiving scraps from the table after setting it and cooking the food. I am assured that if a larger fraction was spread out over a longer period of time, then the city states would be content_".

"_Yes, such an arrangement would be doable for both sides, but in order to let something like that happen, we would need to spread it out over many years, which would mean that our candidate must be both loyal over such a period of time and actually be able to live that long_", Mercury agreed, "_of the ones on our list of important and respected people, not many are young enough to fit the description_".

"_Yes I know, the few that are young enough are mostly slavers and youngsters that have inherited their parents' wealth at too young an age to understand the proper value of it_", the Supreme Commander commented sadly, "_slavers would sell their own mothers if they thought the profit was large enough, so they can naturally not be trusted with such an appointment, and the loafers would either be too influenced by their so-called friends or spend it all on frivolous projects_".

"_This does not leave us with many options left_", Mercury commented, as he sensed the conversation finally reaching its apex.

"_It does leave one candidate that would easily be granted both the blessing of the descendant of Palancar and the crown of Palancar, and who would most surely not turn on us in the middle of our war_", the Supreme Commander said innocently, "_that candidate is furthermore not bothered by a nearby death of old age, and has enough economic sense to not spend it foolishly. Plus, the candidate has deepened their claim to the throne by being both publically known to be helping to win the war, but is also well liked among many of the citizens for its benevolent acts_".

"_And who might that candidate then be, if I may be so bold as to ask?_", Mercury asked with just an ounce too much of cluelessness in his voice.

"_I would name you, Mercury of House Iridium, First Commander of the first ra'zac expedition, as the new king of the isles of Ra'zac Supreme_", the Supreme Commander finally said, "_do you accept this new responsibility and all that comes with it?_"

Mercury could hear Loivissa take an extra loud intake of breath as she finally grasped what was happening before her very eyes, and after a respectable amount of time had passed for Mercury to 'consider' the request, he answered, "_I, Mercury of House Iridium, First Commander of the first ra'zac expedition, from this moment on, accept this responsibility and all that comes with it_".

"_Good, then I will see you at your coronation in The Capital in a fortnight_", the Supreme Commander said and cut off the connection.

"Hmm, I guess this answers which city I should go to then", Mercury calmly mused, as if nothing other than an answer to just that had been agreed upon in the meeting, before he turned to the still shocked Loivissa and said, "Loivissa, would you please go fetch Naina and tell her to instruct Vollar Reklian, the one responsible for my siege equipment, that he is to meet me in my tent as soon as possible and that she is to begin preparations for leaving…oh, and if she is with or near Vardo Lilirith, the one whose jaw you broke on the trip here, then tell him that his presence is expected as soon as possible as well".

* * *

See, nothing to see here, so just keep walking. I mean, given the clues that I have already laid it, it should have been obvious that this would eventually happen(and if you are thinking; _what clues?_, then I would like to make a contest consisting of the first person to find all of those that have been here so far will receive first dips on a side story that I am working on(after I have finished writing it, that is) or three yes or no questions regarding the series(as per the usual rules).


	22. Preparing a king

It is cold, it is gloomy and it is raining outside, so what I guess that I am saying is that I am still living in Denmark ;) Seriously, I had an interesting conversation with a professor from India the other day, where he mentioned how freaking cold it is up here, while I was simply wearing a t-shirt and felt completely at ease with the temperature.

Now, with that little detour done, let me introduce you to this Before Friday Thursday's chapter; Preparing a king(not for supper, that is)

* * *

**Preparing a king**

**Loivissa POV(13 days later)  
**After Mercury's meeting with Anax Manin, his army had split up into two groups and marched their separate ways the next day. Loivissa had heard that the larger part of it, which also had all of the siege engines, had reached Druck only yesterday and had since surrounded the city and begun to wear down its walls.

Mercury's smaller part on the other hand had reached Tel Rascian 3 days ago, and after 2 days of besieging it, they had captured the city in a surprise two-front attack with the Summerborn navy. Losses had been higher than any of their previous battles under Mercury's command, but had still been minimized because of the intervention of the Summerborn navy that had divided and weakened the enemy's defences.

Immediately after taking the city, Mercury, Loivissa, Adûn, Naina and the entire Varangian Guard had set sail for The Capital, while the rest of Mercury's forces had been given the task of securing the city, after which they would get their first major break from fighting, marching or besieging anyone until Mercury's return.

The journey across the sea had only taken a single day, and since this left them with two whole days before the coronation, they had begun helping to organize the preparations, which was what Loivissa could be found doing at this moment, although she would argue how much of a help she really was.

"What do you think; blue with silver embroidery or red with gold embroidery?", Mercury snapped Loivissa out of her wandering thoughts.

They had been at this for the last two days; deciding what food should and should not be present, what decorations should be there, how the ceremony was going to go, which Loivissa believed that they had rehearsed at least a hundred times by now, what guests should be present at the actual ceremony and who would only be invited to the party afterwards and although he had not required her presence for the task because of the late hour, Loivissa still knew that Mercury had spent many an evening discussing future politics and so on, along with writing his inauguration speech.

She took one look at the two cloth samples that would later become part of the throne room's decoration and in a monotone voice, she said, "take the blue one".

"The blue one with silver embroidery, it is then", Mercury confirmed and gestured the two head seamstresses away, before he turned to her and said, "I know that it is not the most interesting of tasks, but it has to be done, so could you please try and act like you care".

"We have been constantly doing this for two days", Loivissa complained, "why do you even need me here? Could Naina not have been just as fine?"

"I tasked Naina with another task that has required her full attention for the last two days", Mercury explained with a slight scowl, "and the reason for you being here is because I would otherwise have been prone to snap if they asked me one more time whether the cherries should be next to or behind the blackberries. I. Do. Not. Care".

"So you thought that it would be better to not suffer alone or else you would not be responsible for what happened to the innocent berries?", Loivissa giggled at her mental image of Mercury losing it at some berries.

"Not only the berries would have been in danger, the chicken and fish would have made excellent hostages as well", Mercury joked with a nearly straight fact, before both burst into laughter at the picture.

Mercury was the first to collect himself, as he straightened up and still chuckling slightly said, "thank you, I really needed that".

"You are welcome", Loivissa chuckled, "so, how much do we really have left today?"

"Hmm, let us see. The orchestra has been tuned and instructed what not to play, the chefs should have the menu ready, the waiters better remember how the food is supposed to stand after so much time, the ceremony rehearsals were completed right after lunch and we just finished with the last of the decorations", Mercury listed what they had done today, and it was still only afternoon, "which means that all I believe that remains is for us to get our respective outfits fitted and checked over before the rest of the day is free".

"Wait, I do not have a dress!", Loivissa suddenly remembered that she had not brought one from Alagaësia, and since it had not been urgent until now, she had not given it any thought because of the huge workload. She doubted very much that she would be allowed to be in the ceremony with just her regular clothes, though she supposed that she could perhaps pull it off in her new steel armour if it was polished enough.

"You are not wearing your armour to the coronation", Mercury said sternly, as if he had read her thoughts, "I took the liberty of having one sewn for you in accordance to your measurements for the armour, so you have no need to worry".

"What colour is it?", Loivissa asked sceptically. Mercury might know how to dress himself, although she had never seen him in anything particularly fancy, but that was still a long way from knowing how to dress women.

_Please do not let it be yellow, please do not let it be yellow_, Loivissa prayed, along with a few other colours, though the yellow one was the worst one imaginable to her.

"I figured a sea-blue one would look good against your ruby eyes and that Adûn's scales would give more life to it. Would that be acceptable?", Mercury asked, and for the first time in a long while, Loivissa believed that he might have sounded slightly nervous, though he tried to hide it.

"It is okay", Loivissa responded neutrally, _it is not the worst colour, but I will not judge it before I see it_.

_A most wise choice, dear_, Adûn suddenly responded. He and Kilgharrah had been flying around while Mercury and Loivissa were dealing with the preparations, as neither of them had any interest in those matters.

_You are back!_, Loivissa responded eagerly.

_You appear to have missed me?_, Adûn asked amused, _was it really that unbearable to spend a day in his company?_

_Completely horrible_, Loivissa commented with a mental pout as she sent her memories of the day.

_Hmm, I agree with silver-eyes that that colour would be most excellent_, Adûn finally said after viewing the memories.

_You just say that because it is your colour_, Loivissa mock accused, before she curiously asked, _what is with silver-eyes? You have called him by his name for a while now?_

_It is nothing more than the after-product of too long a chat between dragons. Nothing to worry about_, Adûn calmly explained.

_Are your wings too tired for another flight, and could you ask Kilgharrah the same without letting Mercury know?_, Loivissa suddenly asked as an idea came to her mind, which Adûn soon picked up on.

_A dragon is never too tired to fly_, Adûn proudly boasted, _we would both be happy to oblige you on this_.

"Loivissa, why has Kilgharrah stopped talking to me?", Mercury questioned beside her, "he mentioned that I should ask you, but I fail to see what could be the cause".

"It is a surprise", Loivissa mysteriously said, "just follow me and you will see".

"But we are supposed to get our outfits checked over", Mercury protested, though he only made very little resistance when she began dragging him out of the room.

Once they passed through the double doors leading into the throne room, the four Varangian guards standing guard outside of it looked upon them curiously as Loivissa came out dragging a clearly confused Mercury, before they eventually decided to simply to fall in step behind the two.

"_If you could tell us where we are going, we would better be able to guard you, my lady_", one of the guards asked Loivissa after a little while, as it was clear that Mercury was also unaware of their final destination.

"_But then it would ruin the surprise_", Loivissa argued before waving the guard away again.

"Loivissa, you should know that I find you dragging me through this place without knowing where we are going highly inappropriate", Mercury protested, though he did nothing to either resist or hinder their progress.

"I am willing to let go of you if you promise not to run off", Loivissa teased; her newest idea had put her in a much better mood than she had been in for a long time.

Mercury arched his eyebrow at her teasing, before nodding slightly, at which point Loivissa let go of him. They passed many doorways and halls, during which Loivissa suspected that Mercury began to figure out where they were heading, but not why, before they finally reached their destination; the massive grass plains outside the castle.

"You dragged me out to see the plains?", Mercury asked confused, before everyone were buffeted by a strong wind.

When the wind had died down, a sea-blue and a deep royal purple dragon stood side by side on the grass plains.

"We are going for a fly", Loivissa said excitedly, before she turned to guards and said, "_your assistance will no longer be necessary_".

The guards bowed in acceptance, before Loivissa and Mercury began saddling the two dragons with the saddles that they had brought with them in their claws. Loivissa finished far sooner than Mercury, so she had to wait atop Adûn for him to finish.

When Mercury had finally finished, the two dragons took off from the ground and started heading out to sea. It was during this time, when all her worries seemed to disappear, that Loivissa finally found the calm that she had been denied for months now.

Sure, she had flown with Adûn numerous times since setting foot in Hydronium, but there had always been worries about whether the lethrblaka might attack the camp or other such concerns that had prevented her from feeling completely relaxed. Now on the other hand, with all of their tasks done and no chance in hell of an enemy attack, she could finally relax properly.

_Where are we going?_, Mercury asked after being given entrance to her mind.

_Nowhere in particular, we are just gliding on the wind_, Loivissa responded, _try to relax and feel the wind underneath Kilgharrah's wings_.

_I think that you are confusing Kilgharrah and I's relationship with the one between dragons and their riders_, Mercury dryly commented without much sign of trying to relax, _we do not linger in each other's minds without purpose after we are done talking, and besides, we do not have time to linger here either, as we still have outfits to be fitted, before dinner is served_.

_Fitting can wait until after dinner, and why do you say 'we'? Are we going to be in the same room while getting dressed and undressed?_, Loivissa teased Mercury.

_Well, no, but-_, Mercury managed to say before Loivissa cut him off, _then keep quiet and try to relax. There is nothing more relaxing than a trip on dragonback_.

_See, I have kept telling you that for centuries and yet you never seem to agree_, Kilgharrah joined the conversation.

_And I keep telling you that if I could, I would rather travel just as fast on foot_, Mercury grumbled.

_Land-dweller_, Kilgharrah said, as if it was supposed to be an insult, though it lacked any venom.

_I fail to see what difference there is between getting fitted in the same room and changing clothes in the same tent_, Adûn joined the conversation with a mock innocent voice.

_Adûn!_, Loivissa screamed mentally, before she moved their conversation to a private section of her mind, _I told you not to mention that to anyone!_

_Sorry, it slipped_, Adûn apologized without really meaning it.

_What is it I hear about changing in the same tent?_, Kilgharrah asked suggestively in the communal room.

_Loivissa was trying on her new armour and simply changed in and out of it_, Mercury told part of the truth to Loivissa's great relief. Now that she thought about it, it had not been the best idea of hers to try and rile Mercury up in that way.

_If you say so_, Kilgharrah said still suspicious.

After that, a time of relative companionable silence ensued, where nothing much was said or done, as they simply glided on the wind and let their troubles fly by them, or at least that was what Loivissa was doing.

_The sun is setting, we should return to dinner_, Mercury, the ever serious one, said.

_Did you even relax, as I told you to?_, Loivissa questioned as they began heading back towards the castle.

He chose not to answer and Loivissa did not question about it further. She had relaxed, and if he wanted to waste such a rare opportunity, then that was his loss.

As they flew back to the castle, Loivissa started to wonder about whether Mercury had planned on becoming king of these isles from before he even dragged the dökkálfar into the war. From what she knew of him, it was not entirely impossible that he could have foreseen the exact situation that had given him the throne, and his actions during his campaign in regards to the population, and the fact that he had acquired the crown beforehand, seemed to only strengthen her suspicions.

_But would that mean that he also planned how to get me to come here as well?_, Loivissa nervously thought, _what if he has been deceiving me this entire time? Just playing with my strings like a marionette doll?_

As Loivissa began to think further about it, her unease grew and grew until she could hardly look in Mercury's direction without suspecting that he somehow knew that she was looking and was somehow changing his appearance to best calm her suspicions.

_Why are you suddenly so worried dear?_, Adûn asked concerned, as Loivissa had kept the paranoid thoughts to herself.

_It is nothing…perhaps…just let me deal with this myself for now, please_, Loivissa requested softly, as she would not involve others in her thoughts until she was sure that they were not just a figment of her imagination.

_As you wish, but I do not like seeing you this disturbed_, Adûn reluctantly obliged, _but if not me, could you at least involve someone else in your thoughts. Mercury perhaps?_

_No, I cannot do that, but I promise that you will be the first to know if I decide to share it with anyone_, Loivissa denied, before Adûn sent a wave of love and appreciation in response to her unbridled trust in him.

Not much was said after they landed, and dinner was a quiet affaire too, as Loivissa was too nervous to start any conversation and Mercury proved to be rather poor at starting conversations that did not involve work in one way or another.

Overall, both parties seemed rather tense with each other when they eventually separated; Loivissa for the fitting of her dress and then to her room to sleep, and Mercury to do…whatever it was that he did at night. Loivissa was not quite sure about what exactly that was yet.

After getting into her scant sleeping attire and physically going to bed, though the covers were more there for appearance's sake than to preserve any warmth, as it was quite hot at night, Loivissa found that she still could not fall asleep.

Doubts about Mercury's true nature continued to rule her mind and prevented her from falling into the sleep-like trance of the elves. How much could she really say that she knew of him? He had obviously omitted large parts of his life in his letters, as had she, but for entirely different reasons, and the way that almost nothing seemed to faze him could very well prove that he had planned everything all along.

_It is rather late to think about this_, Loivissa mused darkly, _I should have thought about it before giving that pledge, and now I could not even deny him if I chose to, but alas, I was so caught up in the ruckus at the moment to even contemplate this and now I am stuck with a potential megalomaniac to rule over me as he pleases_.

Loivissa had not contacted home until now for several reasons; the primary being that she had completely forgotten about them during her many other concerns, while others would wary from hesitance on how to start a conversation without telling anyone of the ruse that currently kept the Ra'zac Empire's army in Alagaësia at peace, to not wishing to have to constantly see her loved ones' fearful expressions of whether she would actually return alive.

Because of this, she had no intention of doing so now either, especially because it would be like admitting to a mistake that she had defended vehemently upon her departure and because she had promised Adûn that he would be the first to know when or if she ever became certain of anything.

And that was really the tricky part; she was not certain about Mercury's deception. She could not entirely prove to even herself that Mercury could have had foreknowledge of so many unknown variables, as there was no way that he should have been able to predict how he had ended up in his current office, but neither could she entirely quell her suspicion that he somehow managed to, if not predict the exact events, then at least certain key elements.

Slowly but surely, evening turned to night and Loivissa slowly drifted off into the realm of her waking dreams, which were unfortunately filled with nightmares of her suddenly discovering the strings that lead up to an unseen puppeteer.

She did feel that a warm entity at some point entered her dreams and washed away her disturbing nightmares and replaced them with happy thoughts, which she guessed to have been Adûn at work, but just as she had started dreaming somewhat peacefully, a scraping of metal against metal, followed by an almost non-existent creaking sound could be heard from her door.

Loivissa immediately opened her eyes and reached for Aiedail that was placed next to the head of her bed. However, what she found standing in the doorway confused her more than it alarmed her, for standing in the doorway, with what looked like two plates stacked on his left arm and some sort of metal thing in his right hand, which was currently hovering slightly beside the door-panel, as if it was about to knock, was Mercury.

"You could have knocked before entering!", Loivissa said not at all amused by his way of entering.

She was not surprised that he had been able to pick the lock, as she had once found him in the midst of examining the disassembled parts of the lock to his office, which he had taken right out of the door, before he had then later put it back together and reinserted it.

She was however deeply surprised that he had actually done so on her door, and from the moon's position, she judged that it was in the middle of the night, if not early morning, and he was still wearing the exact same clothes as last she had seen him, along with a troubled expression that had certainly not been there before.

"I brought cake", Mercury said, as if not hearing her earlier remark, as he showed the two plates that did indeed contain two slices of some sort of cake and a pair of small forks to eat it with.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night, and who else knows about it?", Loivissa asked suspiciously. The rumours would have no end if it became common knowledge that he had entered her chambers late at night.

"You know what? This was a bad idea. I should go", Mercury said in a dejected tone, before he turned around to walk out the door again.

"Stop!", Loivissa commanded, "you have woken me up anyway, so the least you could do as an apology is to let me have the cake".

She was not really that hungry for cake, but it seemed that whatever Mercury had come here for, he had needed some sort of excuse, and perhaps quite a bit of hours of going for and against the idea, if she was to guess by his appearance.

Mercury dutifully but hesitantly closed the door and set one plate on the covers of her bed, before he returned to standing stiffly with his own plate a little away from her bed.

"Sit", Loivissa said in a tone that made it clear that he was not to argue, as she padded a part of her bed close to her knees, "it is far less uncomfortable for me to have you sitting than standing and looking down on me".

"So…where are your guards?", Loivissa asked cautiously after Mercury had finally seated himself on the edge of her bed and seemed to not be an immediate flight risk.

"Still standing guard outside my chambers, I presume", Mercury said hesitantly, "they do not exactly know that I am here".

"And the cake?", Loivissa questioned in regards to her still untouched slice of cake.

"Taken from the kitchens without the chefs' consent", Mercury admitted.

"And to think that I had a hard time imagining you with your hands in the cookie jar", Loivissa said with a small smile at her lips.

It seemed to lift Mercury's mood a little, as he gave a small smile back in return, before the two descended into a mutually understood silence and started digging into the cake. Loivissa had to admit that the cake was delicious, but her concern was more focused on what had troubled Mercury enough to do this unprecedented intrusion upon her privacy.

"Idonotwanttobeking!", Mercury suddenly exclaimed in a nearly incomprehensibly rushed sentence after a few bites had been devoured in silence.

"Come again?", Loivissa requested, as she needed to make sure that she understood that properly.

"I do not want to be king, or to rule over anyone for that matter", Mercury said quite a bit slower and with a sigh at the end, "I have never wanted any of that".

"But you accepted it so calmly?", Loivissa asked confused, "without making any objections or anything".

"Yeah, I had to. Doing anything else would have weakened my position", Mercury admitted with a grim smile.

"So you knew of it beforehand?", Loivissa pointedly inquired. If he had, then she had been at least somewhat right in her suspicions.

"After The Capital, I knew that it was a possibility, but nothing was certain at the time, so I had to play my cards carefully to not lean too far one way or the other", Mercury grimly said.

"What exactly happened in the throne room after I left?", Loivissa demanded with a stern look.

"…I cannot tell you", Mercury hesitantly said while chewing on his lip.

"Cannot or will not?", Loivissa demanded.

"Cannot", Mercury said with a determined expression, which made Loivissa realize that he would not budge on this one.

"Then what do you want?", Loivissa asked cautiously. It was clear to her that this was a sensitive topic that had been festering in his mind for some time now.

"Ideally? To travel the world and learn what I can from who I can until I find somewhere to settle permanent, or at least for a while", Mercury laughed grimly, "I suppose that that is merely wishful thinking on my part now".

"Why?", Loivissa asked confused.

"Because becoming king means that I have to be so for life, and since I do not exactly expect to die within the next few centuries…", Mercury let Loivissa finish that for herself.

"You could get an heir, you know?", Loivissa tried to give alternatives to being in a position that he clearly disliked, for possibly an eternity, "pass on the torch after a while".

"And who would that be, hmm?", Mercury looked at her sceptically, "even if I found one, I would still outlive any human wife and child far too soon, and the only other species that would frequent visits here would be the dökkálfar, and that is not happening".

"Then do not become king", Loivissa said, as if it was self-explanatory, "we could sail away before anyone could stop us and never look back again. Mercury, have you not done enough already?"

"No, you are right. I cannot run away from this. After all that I have done so far, all the sacrifices that have paved this road, I cannot turn back now. I must see this through to the very end", Mercury said with renewed determination, before he sank back into self-doubt again, "but do you think that I would be a good king? Please, be honest".

"You would be a great king", Loivissa calmingly said, before her tone took a more joking nature, "and if not, then Adûn and I will be there to set you straight".

"You will?", Mercury blinked in confusion, "but I thought that you would leave again after the war was over. You still have your kin and fief back in Alagaësia to consider".

"It is not like I will not visit them ever again", Loivissa said offhandedly, "and I could quickly make my niece the new Lady of Eregion, but I already promised you once that I would stick by you, and as long as you have a need for me, I will".

"…thank you", Mercury said softly, before he straightened his posture, stood up from the bed with both of their plates with the only half-eaten cakes, now clearly back to his usual self, and said, "I better get to sleep. Goodnight…and thank you again", before he quickly left her room and locked the door behind him.

The entire experience had been almost surreal to Loivissa, as she had only ever seen Mercury this vulnerable once before, and the previous time, he had needed to be utterly broken to show this kind of weakness, but now, he had done so willingly, albeit with a great deal of hesitance.

The last embers of doubts that Loivissa had had concerning Mercury had died this night, and because of this, Loivissa slept peacefully until early into the next morning.


	23. Crowning a king

Rejoice! Because it is Monday, and more importantly, it is Mammoth Monday! Now, I do not know whether anyone of you have noticed this(probably not since you would hardly check out the timeline every other day or so), but I have in fact been updating it to include the events revealed from when I posted it. In case you are wondering "when is this going on in comparison to the rest of the story?", a single look at it(with early, normal and late seasons as opposed to actual months, though they still amount to the same thing in the end) will help you find your bearings.

* * *

**Crowning a king**

**Loivissa POV  
**It was the morning after Mercury had come to Loivissa's room late at night, and Loivissa was currently standing among many humans and dökkálfar in the throne room of the castle. Most of the human guests were important business or political figures, while the dökkálfar guests mostly consisted of anaxes and anássas, although a few odd ones had somehow managed to sneak in as well.

All of the humans were in their most expensive looking outfits, which were quite exotic looking to Loivissa, while nearly all the dökkálfar had chosen to polish their best armour and wear them with vibrantly coloured cloaks, since hardly anyone had thought of bringing fancy clothing to a war.

Loivissa herself was dressed in a long sea-blue dress with no shoulder straps or sleeves to cover her arms. It was long enough that it only just managed to reach the floor, after which it flowed upwards to just under her arms in what appeared to be one long continuous piece of silk that had been tucked in to fit her frame. No jewels or any elegant embroidery had been sewn into it, not that Loivissa minded, as the fabric seemed to have a glow of its own.

The only jewellery that Loivissa wore was the signet ring of Sidhe on her right middle finger and a silver necklace that almost reached down to her dress, which had small diamonds embedded all the way down from her collarbones and down to the middle, where a larger ruby had been embedded instead.

Her long golden hair had been braided into one long braid at the back of her head, except that a lock of hair on each side of her head had been allowed to remain free and had then been tucked behind her pointed ears and were allowed to flow down her front.

The necklace had been brought to her by the two young human female chambermaids that had been sent to her to help her get dressed for the grand event. They had also been the ones to style her hair this way, and although Loivissa had to admit that she kind of liked it, it took an entire hour with two extra hands to set it as such, so she doubted that she would have it like that very often.

The throne room around her was almost unrecognizable from when Loivissa had last seen it. The black marble walls had been richly decorated with blue cloths with silver embroidery that hung down from the loft so that it looked like the black marble wall was striped with blue.

The white spiralling pillars and the white marble floor had been left alone, except that a red carpet ran all the way from the double doorway towards the Bone Throne, as Loivissa had later learned that it was actually called because of how it looked, even though it was actually made of ivory and not human bones.

All the guests had been divided up into two parts by the red carpet running through the room, which was guarded all the way through by dökkálfar guards facing inwards in heavy steel plate armour and two-handed swords, which were all out of their sheaths and had been set with the tip down on the floor, while both hands of the guard holding it rested atop its pommel.

Loivissa was located in the left group, where her exact position was at the very front row and then closest to the red carpet. Anax Manin stood slightly in front and to the left of the throne, with his back to it as he looked down the carpet, Naina, who was dressed in what looked like a green version of Loivissa's dress and who had her hair tied in its usual ponytail with the butterfly talisman atop of it, stood slightly behind Anax Manin and to the right of the throne, where she was holding the pillow holding Palancar's crown, and Adûn and Kilgharrah had both taken up the massive alcoves near the front on either side of the room that had previously been reserved for the lethrblaka overlords.

Adûn kept still in his lying position with his front paws underneath his muzzle, while Kilgharrah on the other hand seemed to amuse himself by heating up the air next to an overly pompously dressed human couple close to him without their notice of him doing so, which led to them sweating profusely and the woman using her little fan as if there would be no tomorrow if the fan could not exceed the speed of thought.

Loivissa would have tried to stop him, if not for the fact that she had overheard the two talking about how they were too important to be placed next to some beast. They had likely been stupid enough to continue the discussion after finding their spot in the thought that dragons were simply mindless beasts that were incapable of understanding their sophisticated speech.

Right now, everyone was waiting for the trumpet that would announce Mercury's approach, which they had been for a little while now.

Truth be told, Loivissa was not all that comfortable in her dress, as she believed that it showed far too much of her skin to far too many people, not to mention how closely it hugged her form, and her discomfort was only worsened by the hungry stares that she received from not only the young single human men, but also the grizzly old married ones.

_You look lovely, dear, so stop worrying so much_, Adûn tried to comfort her.

_If they would stop staring at me like that, I might be able to_, Loivissa replied after having once again caught a young human blatantly staring at her forms and sent a small mental icicle towards him to make him stop.

_I could make them stop…_, Adûn offered suggestively.

_You are not to cause a scene today of all days_, Loivissa admonished her partner-of-heart-and-mind, though she knew that he was half kidding.

_Then the only other way to effectively make them stop is to have a distraction walk in, which reminds me; when is Mercury coming?_, Adûn asked.

_He will be here soon_, Loivissa tried to reassure him, although she still had some small lingering doubts about it.

He had seemed to be back to his old determined self again when he had left her room last night, which not even Adûn knew had happened, as she both found that Mercury likely would not have wanted anyone else to know of it, and that Adûn would be intolerable if he ever found out that Mercury had been in her room late at night without anyone's knowledge. Despite this, she still considered Mercury to be a flight risk right up until he had finally been crowned.

Still, she could not entirely say that it would not be a funny story to tell of the king that ran away from his own coronation, although she certainly did not wish for it to happen right now.

Then suddenly, the trumpeters blew a loud clear tone and the double doors swung open to reveal Mercury standing behind them. His torso was covered by his black newly waxed leather armour with its intricate silver embroidery, but unlike when in actual combat, he bore no weapons or bracers, and his usual black cloak had been replaced by a hoodless blue cape with white fur at the sides, his usual pants were now a pair of black leather breeches and his shoes were not the rough leather boots that he wore in combat, but rather a pair of simple leather shoes.

The only jewellery that he bore was his dwarven ring on his right index finger, but his determined silver dragon eyes would have automatically stolen all attention from any jewellery that could have ever been placed near his head.

Loivissa sucked in a breath, as did most of the other human occupants of the room, as he slowly but purposefully strode down the red carpet. He looked…majestic and, yet like a mysterious force not of this world, and from behind her, Loivissa heard not so few human women whisper about how to best catch his gaze.

When Mercury reached Anax Manin and bent down on his right knee with his back now towards the audience, all whispers stopped immediately as they eagerly awaited what was to happen now. Two young male dökkálfar translators stood halfway between the throne and the dragon at either side of the room. Their purpose was to translate all dökkálfar speech to the human tongue for the humans and vice versa for the dökkálfar, so that everyone always knew what was being said.

"_Why have you come here?_", Anax Manin asked formally in accordance to the script.

"I have come to claim kingship over these lands", Mercury answered equally formally.

"_By what right do claim this title?_", Anax Manin asked.

"By the rights of strength, royal relics and bloodlines", Mercury answered.

"_What strengths have you shown?_", Anax Manin asked.

"The strength to capture cities and defeat the armies loyal to the ra'zac and their parents", Mercury answered.

"_What royal relics do you possess?_", Anax Manin asked.

Mercury made a small signal for Naina to come forward, where she showed the crown for all to see, before he said, "I am the rightful owner of the crown of King Palancar, the last human king of these isles".

The crown was a simple golden one with a thin golden band around most of the head, which then widened out near the middle of the front to form the image of two feet with talons holding an oval egg-like amethyst.

"_And finally, what bloodline have you to support your claim?_", Anax Manin asked after Naina had taken a step back, now that her immediate part was over.

"The bloodline of King Palancar supports my claim", Mercury answered.

"_Is there a member of this bloodline present?_", Anax Manin said towards the audience.

"There is", Loivissa said and approached the throne at Mercury's left side, with him still kneeling all the way through it.

"_Who are you, and from whom do you descend?_", Anax Manin asked Loivissa.

"My name is Lady Loivissa of House Sidhe, ruler of Eregion of The Empire of Alagaësia and apprentice to Mercury of House Iridium, First Commander of the first ra'zac expedition. My maternal grandfather was Evandar, the deceased king of the elves, and my maternal grandmother is Islanzadi, the current queen of the elves. Their daughter, my mother, is Arya Shadeslayer, a dragon rider of her own right, mate to the lead dragon rider and the dröttningu of the elves", Loivissa said proudly, "my father is the lead dragon rider Eragon Shadeslayer, who was born to the dragon rider Brom, son of Holcomb of Kuasta of The Empire of Alagaësia, and Selena of Carvahall of The Empire of Alagaësia. It is from my paternal grandmother's side, whose family have lived in the Palancar Valley of Alagaësia since King Palancar first settled there, that I descend from King Palancar".

"_And do you support this person's claims?_", Anax Manin continued.

"I do", Loivissa answered.

"_Does anyone present have evidence to dispute the rights presented?_", Anax Manin asked the assembly, although none were expected to answer, as the human guest list was comprised of people either supportive of the new leadership or willing to bend the knee to whoever was in charge at the time.

After a sufficient time of silence had passed, Anax Manin picked up again, "_do you, Mercury of House Iridium, First Commander of the first ra'zac expedition, swear to govern these isles justly and to protect them and their inhabitants from undue harm?_"

"I do", Mercury said solemnly.

"_Will you bleed for your subjects?_", Anax Manin asked, as he drew a small ceremonial dagger from his belt, which had gems embedded in both the hilt and the blade.

"I will", Mercury said and raised his left hand up towards Anax Manin.

Mercury had explained to her the importance of doing this next part in dökkálfar culture, as it both symbolized that the leader was willing to bleed for his people, as well as the fact that the blood drawn would be kept and sealed in a small vial forever to keep a running archive of all the leaders that had been and would ever be.

Anax Manin took a firm hold around Mercury's wrist, before he slowly let the ceremonial dagger cut a shallow cut into Mercury's palm, after which he held up the palm to show the audience that the cut had been made, before a dökkálfar page came in with a small crystal vial, which they then filled with Mercury's blood, before the crystal cap was reinserted and then magically melted together with the crystal of the vial to seal it.

Mercury's cut was then magically healed and wiped clean of excess blood, before the ceremony continued with Anax Manin turning to Naina and taking the crown from its pillow and holding it just above Mercury's head, as he said, "_then I hereby declare you king of Ra'zac Supreme_", at which point he set down the golden crown on Mercury's short-clipped grey hair, before he removed his hands from it and loudly proclaimed, "_Rise King Mercury! All hail the king!_"

Loivissa held out a hand to help Mercury rise from his position, which he took with his left hand, before he rose and turned around to face the audience with a flourish of his cape. A chorus of "hail King Mercury!" and "long live the king!" was heard the moment that he began to rise, but when he turned around, it intensified and was followed by clapping.

After a barely sufficient time of applause had passed, Mercury raised both of his hands to silence the audience, before he said in an authoritative voice, "people of this nation, hear me! As my first act as your king, I, from this moment on, declare the supremacy of the ra'zac over! No longer will it be allowed to eat humans and any slaves willing to join military service can do so and be free now and forever, but their previous masters will of course be compensated for their loss. To signify the passing of one era and the beginning of another, I hereby change the name of my kingdom from Ra'zac Supreme to the Kingdom of Damocles. Serve me faithfully, and together, we will be able to build this new kingdom, so that it will be unrivalled in its greatness and beauty. All hail Damocles!"

"All hail Damocles! All hail King Mercury!", the audience chorused.

"Let the festivities begin!", Mercury declared and the double doors were immediately opened, after which Mercury began to leisurely walk towards them with Naina and Loivissa walking side by side slightly behind him.

Soon enough, the guests had been let inside one of the many ballrooms that had been prepared for today's festivities, which were expected to last all through the night. A buffet of exquisite dishes, both deserts, appetizers and main courses, was available in every room and was constantly being refilled, while servants clad in pristine suits constantly made sure that no one lacked any refreshments.

The current ballroom had been decorated with the colours of a vibrant sunset, but others had been decorated as a clear starry night or as the azure ocean or a number of other such themes. This ballroom had a large dancing floor and an orchestra with brass instruments playing in front of the setting sun, while a few tables and chairs were spread out near the edge of the room.

When they had organized it, Loivissa had thought the ceremony and later festivities to be far too extravagant when you considered how much they needed the gold elsewhere, but Mercury and Anax Manin had convinced her that since they could now officially dip into the captured treasury of the former Ra'zac Empire, they were able to pay for everything with only a small indent of the total treasury being used, as well as the fact that if they managed to make these important and or respected people happy enough, then there was a far higher chance of the new government being accepted by the general populace.

Now was however not the time for Loivissa to muse on such serious thoughts, as a party was underway all around her, where people danced to the tunes of the orchestra and filed in and out of the different ballrooms at leisure. In fact, during her short time of unawareness, Loivissa had already lost track of both Mercury and Naina in the crowd of people, so she decided to instead head over to the nearest balcony to see how Adûn and Kilgharrah were doing outside on the plains, where a number of tents had also been set up to further cater to the massively expanded crowd of people.

When she reached the balcony and looked down, both dragons had an untouched barrel standing in front of them, while they stared intensely at each other, before they simultaneously grabbed the barrels with their teeth and started to empty the contents in what looked to be a drinking game.

Kilgharrah finished first, after which he threw the empty wooden barrel so hard into the ground that it splintered into tiny pieces and then he laughed in his draconic laughter. Adûn finished half a second after Kilgharrah had finished, but refrained from the same actions as him. Two new wooden barrels were then brought to the two dragons by two pairs of trembling servants that hastily retreated again, after which the contest was repeated.

Loivissa left the balcony laughing at their antics, before she snatched a drink from one of the waiters' trays and ventured further inside. It was not long until she was stopped in her tracks by a gentle tug of her dress, which turned out to be a human boy no older than seven that looked up at her with wide wondering hazel eyes.

"You are really pretty!", the young boy said unabashed, "may I dance with you?"

What Loivissa assumed to be the boy's mother quickly hurried over and profusely tried to apologize for her son's behaviour, but Loivissa merely smiled at the young boy and sweetly said, "of course you may. Can you lead or should I?"

"I will!", the young boy said with a pout, but after getting ready to stand in the correct position, he noticed that their height difference made it impossible to dance properly.

Loivissa bent down and took his hands into hers to try and emulate the correct position, before they started to dance a highly improvised dance that did not seem to follow the music at all. When the tune finally ended, the little boy kissed the back of her right hand and bowed as a true little gentleman, before he ran across the room to his gaping friends with a beaming smile plastered unto his face.

Loivissa picked up a new drink, her previous one having been removed in her absence, and sipped from it, although she hardly had any time to enjoy that one before a young human in his twenties that was dressed as finely as any prince would have been, approached her with what he believed to be a will-bending smile, though it hardly had any effect on Loivissa.

"Thou skin as fair as ivory, thou eyes as captivating as the setting sun and thou hair the finest of gilded silk cannot compare", the man spoke in his most captivating voice.

"Thank you, and you are?", Loivissa said politely but unfazed by the flattery.

Darkness momentarily crept into his eyes, but it was gone not a moment later as he continued in his sugary sweet voice, "does thou not know my name, see the splendour of my robe or the noble face of mine? Oh what wonder, what joy, for I have finally found a fair maiden not already infatuated with my station or gold, so for tonight, let me just be known to you as your joyful chevalier, and I in turn shall know you as the fairest maiden to ever walk these halls, so that we may enjoy the rest of this beautiful evening in blissful ignorance!"

Loivissa did not trust this man as far as her earlier dancing partner could throw him. He was far too confident in himself and his own charms, and Loivissa got the distinct impression that he viewed her as nothing more than an exceptional prize in a long line of conquests. She also severely doubted his actual importance, as he would surely have recognized her if he had been present at the coronation ceremony.

"How sweet you are and how elegant your speech, but I am afraid that I must decline your offer", Loivissa declined as politely as she could.

"Surely you cannot deny me just one dance?", the man said with a darker tone buried way below his sugary sweet voice, as he unprovoked grabbed hold of her right wrist in a firm grip. He was clearly not used to be denied something that he wanted.

"I think that it would be wise of you to unhand me at once", Loivissa tried to be diplomatic.

"I decide what is and is not wise, and I say that you should follow me if you know what is best for you", the sugary sweet voice had now almost completely disappeared and his grip on her wrist had tightened considerably.

"Do you really?", Loivissa asked sugary sweet as she grabbed the hand holding her wrist and squeezed it until he let go with a yelp and an incredulous expression.

Two members of the Varangian Guard quickly appeared next to the pair with their hands ready on their swords, as the one that knew the human tongue asked, "does this person disturb you, my lady?"

"She assaulted me! Just look at how she molested my hand! I demand that you remove her at once or I will have my father talk to the king about your behaviour", the annoying man complained loudly to the two guards.

The two guards looked amused at one another, before they looked at the annoying man and asked, "we could take you to the king to settle this matter?"

"Yes, take me to him at once!", the annoying man, who did not understand the situation at all and only thought of his possibly one chance to make an impression on the new king, said.

One guard showed the way, while the other travelled next to Loivissa and discreetly questioned her in the dökkálfar language about what had really transpired. To say that he was excited to witness the upcoming conversation between Mercury and the kid was an understatement to say the least.

They finally found Mercury in the night-sky room, where he was deep in conversation with some elderly fine-looking human man with grey hair and a cane with a diamond at the top to support him with. From the brief window that Loivissa had had to watch them before the pair noticed her presence, she judged that Mercury was likely in the midst of schmoozing with as many influential people as possible to build as many bridges as he could.

"What seems to be the problem?", Mercury asked politely upon noticing the guards, Loivissa and the annoying man, and after politely excusing himself from the elderly man from before.

"This woman led me on all night to try and isolate me to do only gods know what, and when I tried to politely decline her, she molested me", the man lied through his teeth and showed his hardly bruised wrist as proof, before he dropped into an apologetic tone, "I feel sorry for the poor thing that it had to come to this, but perhaps I could be persuaded to let the matter drop on this special occasion".

Mercury looked back and forth between Loivissa and the man with concealed amusement twinkling in his eyes, before he settled on the man and asked, "you are sure that THIS beautiful young woman was the one that managed to overpower you?"

"Yes, she is a lot stronger than she looks", the annoying man said, albeit a bit shamefully.

"I see, and your name would be…?", Mercury asked with what Loivissa now recognized as not an amused twinkle in his eyes, but rather a dangerous glint.

"My name is Freyal Haldor, heir to Haldor's Tailors", the annoying man proudly proclaimed.

"Hmm, Haldor, Haldor, Haldor?", Mercury mused, as if trying to remember the name, before he turned to Loivissa and said, "say, my dear Lady Loivissa, do you remember the name Haldor from when we went over the guest list?"

"I do not, master", Loivissa said with extra emphasis at the master-part, "but apparently I have become uncommonly forgetful lately, for I do not remember the same events as Mr Haldor does".

Loivissa and all the other Varangian guards present could hardly conceal their utter amusement when all blood vanished from Freyal's face, as he nervously looked at Loivissa and stammered, "but-, mas-, master would mean that you are…"

"Well yes, she is my apprentice, the rider of the dragon Adûn and the Lady of Eregion of course", Mercury said with a predatorily glint in his eyes, before he moved closer to the poor shivering man and whispered into his ear, "I do not know the exact circumstances behind this, but I am sure that you would prefer not to be seen at this party after I learn of it".

The shivering man lost what little colour remained on his face, before he bowed until his head almost reached the floor and all but ran out of the room. The two guards that had escorted Loivissa here moved to follow him to ensure that he left the premises without incident, leaving Loivissa and Mercury fairly alone.

"Do I need to know what happened?", Mercury asked casually, though the same dangerous glint was still hidden deep within his eyes.

"Nothing that I could not handle", Loivissa brushed it off, before she decided to change the topic, "by the way, where is Naina?"

"She disappeared almost at the same time as you did", Mercury let the matter go, "I hope that it has been a pleasant evening otherwise?"

"I watched Adûn and Kilgharrah have a drinking match and danced with a young child, so yes, I would say that it has been", Loivissa answered fondly.

"That is good to hear. Now, unless you care to join me, I think that I have just spotted another from my list over there", Mercury said and had already moved halfway away from her, before she caught his wrist in a firm but gentle grip and said, "no, you are not going to spend your entire evening on schmoozing! This is YOUR coronation party, and you should at least get to enjoy yourself at it".

Before he had time to argue, she had already dragged him out on the dance floor, just as a new tune was being started, and with no other choice available, Mercury finally put his hands around her and led the dance.

It was somewhat lively for a waltz, but it was not at a pace that made her dress flare up or anything either. Loivissa noted that although Mercury led perfectly, his hands on her were stiff and he avoided her gaze whenever possible.

"You can relax, you know?", Loivissa tried to calm him, "I am not going to break if you misstep or anything".

"No, it is not that", Mercury mumbled.

"Then what is it", Loivissa continued to dig.

"Well, to be honest…my last dancing partner's fate did not turn out so well…", Mercury continued to mumble.

"Mercury, look at me!", Loivissa said in an authoritative voice and did not say anything more until he finally looked her in the eyes, "I will not allow such a fate to happen to me, you hear? No matter what you think, I will not turn on you, and you in turn will not have to kill me".

Mercury did not respond verbally to her declaration, but his hands lost their stiffness and he stopped avoiding her gaze after a short while had passed.

During a turn, Loivissa caught the gaze of Naina, who appeared to also be dancing with a member of the Varangian Guard, the same one whose jaw Loivissa had once broken and who had recently been enlisted into the Guard, if Loivissa was not mistaken.

Loivissa did not say anything, and neither did Naina, but both had minute toothy grins plastered on their faces when their gazes were once again forced apart. Loivissa never told Mercury about what she had seen, as she did not know Mercury's policy regarding Naina's romantic life.

When the tune finally ended, Mercury and Loivissa bowed to each other, as was custom, but they did not separate for the remainder of the night. Loivissa was firmly determined to make sure that Mercury did not spend his only coronation party doing tedious work, so she led him from room to room and made sure that he never managed to escape.

During the night, they danced quite a few times more, drank more than they probably should have, tried most of the food, while most of the deserts were hand-fed by the other in their slightly inebriated state, visited Kilgharrah and Adûn, who had both fallen asleep with countless empty and broken barrels around them, and then there was an unknown time at night where Loivissa found herself having fallen asleep and then somehow having been carried to her bed, but despite her wish to rejoin the festivities, she quickly succumbed to sleep again.

* * *

Yep, that is Mercury, the party animal. Hear him roar!


	24. But before I go

**But before I go**

**Mercury POV(two weeks later)  
**It had been two weeks since Mercury's ascension to the throne, and during those two weeks, he had been quite busy. If anyone had thought that he would just take the throne and then everything would be ready so that he could depart again within a day or two, they had obviously never thought it through.

Because of the ra'zac's way of leading the country, almost the entire administration had to be built up from scratch, which among others included Mercury having to elevate not so few families to different ranks of nobility in order to delegate the management of the conquered areas.

Choosing said nobles had not only been a most time-consuming and tedious affair, as they all needed to be vetted to check that they would not immediately turn against him when his back was turned and that they were actually qualified to do the job.

Besides finding someone to micromanage the areas, he had also had to form an administration to govern the day-to-day affairs of Damocles as a whole, which had been formed from the best candidates of the previously mentioned noble families.

Besides just setting up his administration, he had also had to officially conduct and sign the already agreed upon arrangement with the dökkálfar about what would happen after the war ended, as well as supervise his new navy's construction, which was primarily turning fishing and trading vessels into makeshift warships and manning them, sketch out and implement policy and law changes, make lots and lots of public appearances, give audiences and many other such duties.

Naina had been beside him during all of this, as he had already made it clear to her that she was to stay behind in The Capital and manage his new kingdom's day-to-day affairs in his stead, when he eventually returned to the battlefield.

Loivissa on the other hand had tried her best to be at his side as much as she could, but he had on numerous occasions told her to go fly with Adûn instead of being stuck inside a tedious meeting, where she would be nothing more than a silent bored watcher.

Speaking of which, Mercury had subtly inquired upon how much of the festivities Loivissa actually remembered. Luckily, she had not remembered all that much of it. It was for the best.

What had happened that night should not have happened. Mercury blamed the excessive amounts of alcohol and the emotional turmoil of his coronation for allowing his lapse in judgement. Nothing could happen between them right now, that much was clear to Mercury.

He did not want a repeat of what happened with Elva, more the loss than the betrayal part, to be exact. When he had tried to have Elva killed the first time, his actions afterwards had been far too influenced by his emotions, and if Loivissa died, Mercury feared that he might relapse into that.

He was not entirely sure that he would, as he still had Naina and Kilgharrah near him this time, but the simple fear of it happening was enough to warrant a significant amount of concern. That was why nothing could be allowed to happen before the war ended and relative peace reigned.

Mercury did not doubt Loivissa's combat prowess or Adûn's determination to ensure his rider's survival, but he did doubt the fates of those close to him during times of war. Experience had taught him that something always went wrong whenever he tried to take on an opponent that severely outclassed him, so this time, he would be prepared.

This was another reason why Naina was being left behind in The Capital, along with a good portion of his Varangian Guard to guarantee her safety, although the new one, Vardo, would not be left behind with her. This would be a good opportunity to watch his behaviour when Naina was not around.

If his scouts', whom he had placed near the crossroad between Druck, Viana and Tel Rascian, reports were correct, then a major part of the three main cities around the volcano Rushno's defensive forces had crossed that crossroad two days ago in the direction of Druck to try and catch the portion of his army besieging Druck between a hammer and an anvil.

They would never make it in time. His latest report from that army had been that the only portion of the city still let standing was the prison fort, but as long as he could keep the enemy believing that they could make a difference, they would keep marching south.

That would work perfectly for when he planned to move his army in Tel Rascian towards Viana. If he could have them march on for another week before he began his own march, then any chance of them reaching Viana before his forces had conquered it would be non-existent, and after taking Viana, he would be able to use the army in Druck to move north and capture the enemy army in the same situation as they had hoped to do that army. After that, the rest of the southern half would be a cakewalk.

"_The minister of food requests an audience with you to address the dwindling stores of grain_", Naina said from beside Mercury, as they walked towards his next meeting.

"_Schedule a time for him to meet me in my office_", Mercury instructed, "_and tell him to take into account that the fish supply from the Isle of Wright will be returning any day now_".

"_Understood, I will give him the first hour after lunch three days from now_", Naina mentioned and scribbled it down.

It was at times like these that Mercury wished that they controlled the western half and not the eastern half of the isles. Generally speaking, the eastern isles mostly dealt with mining, smithing, masonry and other such things. It was natural for them, especially for the Isle of First, since they had almost all of the isles' mountains, minerals and ore deposits.

The western half on the other hand was far more fertile and crop-producing. The area around and north of the volcano was even unofficially dubbed the breadbasket of the Ra'zac Empire. But despite the immediate need to feed his people, Mercury was still overall happy with the eastern half having been subdued first.

If the Isle of First had had time to prepare for their coming, then their vast experience and general acknowledgement as the hardest people of the Ra'zac Empire, combined with their mountainous strongholds would have made it hell to conquer them.

Fortunately enough, the Isle of Wright was now on Mercury's side's hands, which meant that an influx of fish could now replace some of the crops from the breadbasket. The sole purpose of capturing the relatively strategic unimportant, at least when seen from a purely military perspective, Isle of Wright was to get a hold of their fishing industry. 20% of the former Ra'zac Superior's overall fishing supply came from that little island, so it was no small matter.

It was a shame that they could not fully exploit the northern half's food supplies, as there would not have been a food shortage in The Capital at all if they could have, but it was unfortunately necessary.

"_We are here_", Naina brought him out of his musings.

They had arrived at the door leading into the seamstresses' work chambers, and after briefly knocking to announce their entrance, they pushed through the door. Inside, lots and lots of seamstresses were fiddling with various projects at their tables, and when a few managed to tear their gaze away from the job at hand to see who had entered, they immediately got wide-eyed and frantically poked those next to them in an attempt to make them aware of their guests.

Finally, the head seamstress noticed his presence and moved to greet him while shushing on her whispering seamstresses. When she reached him, she bowed, and apologetically said, "your highness, there was no need for you to go down here. We would have brought it to you at the throne room".

"There was no need to waste your time with doing so", Mercury brushed it off and motioned for her to stand again, after which she began to lead him towards his object of interest.

In truth, Mercury had not actually dealt with that many people in the throne room, or sat in the Bone Throne all that much either. In Mercury's opinion, the concept of a throne had possibly been the stupidest idea ever to surface in anyone's mind. It could be used as nothing other than to sit on, and Mercury found it highly uncomfortable to sit in it with people in front of him.

There was something about there not being any boundaries between your sitting position and whoever you were talking to, who was most likely standing, that greatly unnerved Mercury. Give him a desk and he would have never minded.

Desks were nice. Factum. They had an established boundary between yourself and your visitor, could be used to work at, write notes on during meetings and could contain a number of hidden compartments as well.

But Mercury was once again letting his mind wander when it should not, as they finally arrived at his contracted work.

"I have had my best seamstresses on this, and if I have to say so myself, it has turned out quite nicely", the head seamstress boasted proudly, "if your highness would direct your attention to the sea, you will notice that the colour is almost identical to our own azure waters in the Sea of Tel, and the silver threads fits quite nicely against the dark-blue night background".

"Yes, it looks well", Mercury agreed as he closely studied the details of the tapestry.

The tapestry in question would eventually turn out to be his nation's new flag, so it had to look well. Mercury, having never been the greatest artist, had simply explained his idea of what the flag should look like to some artists and seamstresses and then given them free reign to make something.

What had come out of that cooperation was what was currently in front of him. The flag's bottom half depicted an azure sea in uproar that had a single silver ship with white sails bracing the seas. The upper half showed a white crescent moon on a dark-blue night sky with numerous little silver stars.

"What do you think?", Mercury asked Naina beside him.

"It seems kind of dark. Could you throw something warmer into it, like a sunrise for example?", Naina commented. It was completely like her to always want there to be some sort of red or orange in anything she had a say in.

It was not like he had first envisioned it, but Mercury could see the value of having the idea that hope was just beyond the horizon on his standard, so he turned to the seamstress and told her to try and make it look like the sun was only just about to rise behind the ship, but without it encroaching too much upon the night sky.

The head seamstress immediately said that it would be done as soon as possible, before they were led towards the desk containing the artist working on Mercury's other project; his new coat of arms. These were small and relatively unimportant matters, but they still needed to be done as soon as possible to give some semblance of a public face to his new kingdom.

"Wha- what do you think?", the stuttering artist said and nervously displayed his latest creation.

Mercury had had no idea on what to make the coat of arms look like, so he had told the man to try something. The first attempt had been a roaring golden lion standing on its back legs and holding a sword in its paw. That had been rejected at first sight.

The second attempt had been a knight riding a prancing white stallion with a spear in one hand, a shield in the other and a cowering lethrblaka about to be impaled by the spear. Although Mercury had found its resemblance to saint George and the dragon amusing, he harboured no wish to always be associated with killing lethrblaka, so he had dropped that one as well, and had then had an amusing idea of what to do, which he had tried to explain to the artist as best as he could.

In Mercury's old world, it would have been a very simplified Hg atom, with its 80 blue electron dots spread out in six black circles around it in the correct amounts while a much larger core comprised of larger red and grey dots made out the centre, although he could not make room for all of the nucleuses.

Despite the rather abstract concept for an artist of this world to understand, this one had made an excellent job of it, especially after Mercury had corrected him in that no frizzy lines or intricate patterns should be painted into the picture.

"Keep it that way and it will do", Mercury acknowledged, which made the artist silently brief in relief, before Mercury and Naina began heading out again; their business in here done.

"_What is next on the list?_", Mercury asked after had closed the door again.

"_You have some free time at the moment_", Naina said after checking the schedule, "_and nothing else requires your presence until later this evening_".

"_I will go see Kilgharrah then_", Mercury decided, "_feel free to do whatever you like in the meantime_".

The two separated, along with their guard detail, and Mercury and his guards headed towards the section housing Kilgharrah. When he arrived there, Kilgharrah was in the midst of tearing through a cow. Mercury patiently waited for him to be done, knowing better than to disturb him in the midst of eating or else he might risk losing a limb.

When Kilgharrah finally finished, Mercury motioned for his guards to stay at the door, before venturing over to sit with his back to Kilgharrah's left front paw; the only clean one. Kilgharrah in the meantime began licking his right paw clean of blood, while finally extending his conscious to begin the conversation.

_I have not seen you for a while_, Kilgharrah commented as he continued to lick and nibble at his claws.

_I was here earlier this morning_, Mercury responded.

_It does not count when I am asleep_, Kilgharrah huffed, _I could have squashed you with my paw without ever knowing so_.

_I would have moved_, Mercury said amused.

_So when are we leaving?_, Kilgharrah decided to ask the question that had been left in the air since Mercury's arrival in The Capital.

_Loivissa, Adûn and I are leaving in a few days_, Mercury said hesitantly, _Naina stays behind to govern in my stead_.

_And me?_, Kilgharrah asked annoyed at where he knew this was going.

_Will have to stay behind until my new navy is ready and the risk of them taking back The Capital has decreased_, Mercury responded warily. He knew that Kilgharrah had never been happy with this assignment, especially because Mercury was allowed to go out and fight, but he was not, and in order to try and cheer Kilgharrah up, Mercury said, _it will likely not be too long now, and if everything happens according to plan, then they will not be able to take back The Capital in a few weeks…and if nothing else, then you have Naina here with you to keep you company this time_.

_If you fail with this plan of yours and I am not out of here before a month from now, then I will fly out on my own, bring Loivissa and Adûn down and then make them return here instead_, Kilgharrah huffed half seriously.

_Yes, I am sure that that would increase my standing in the eyes of my citizens_, Mercury laughed amused, _not to mention Adûn's hurt pride and Loivissa's anger at her dragon's hurt pride_.

_You still have not told her, have you?_, Kilgharrah asked in regards to Loivissa.

_No, and I do not intend to, for now at least_, Mercury answered determined and annoyed at yet another mention of it.

He had not meant for anyone to find out about it, but Kilgharrah, being the annoying snooping and surprisingly perceptive dragon that he was, had somehow managed to learn of it, but had at least agreed not to share it with anyone.

_You do know that the longer you wait, the madder it is likely that she will get when she eventually finds out_, Kilgharrah advised.

_I know, but it cannot be right now. Right now, we need to focus fully on the war ahead of us, and how much madder could she get in a few months anyway?_, Mercury postponed telling her.

_You will see…_, Kilgharrah said half warningly and half smugly.

After that, a little while of companionable silence passed as the two simply enjoyed sitting there, before Kilgharrah eventually was the one to break it by asking, _how was the drawings?_

_I think that they will do_, Mercury said not really that interested in them.

_They need more dragon_, Kilgharrah suggested.

_For the last time; the new flag will not be a painting of you circling above The Capital_, Mercury said firmly, though with a hint at amusement at Kilgharrah's persistence in trying to somehow paint him into it.

_Hmprf, if it is with that tone, then I will go hunting_, Kilgharrah huffed and spread his wings in preparation to take off.

_But there is nothing to hunt on The Capital?_, Mercury managed to say before Kilgharrah cut him off by haughtily stating, _watch me_, before he cut off the connection and took flight.

"_Was something wrong?_", one of the guards asked Mercury after Kilgharrah had flown away.

"_No, but if someone comes in and says that they are missing wildstock, then just pay them for what they lost_", Mercury waved away their concerns, before he started heading down towards the dungeons.

Since the visit to Kilgharrah had been shorter than expected, he might just have time to do something else that he had been meaning to do for a while now. Mercury continued down into the lowest and most secure levels of the dungeons, to the astonishment of many a guard, until he finally found the cells that he had been looking for.

The cells in question held all of the captured ra'zac, and it was one of these that he intended to visit. When he made it known to his guards what he intended to do, they balked at the idea and said that it was too dangerous and that if he wanted information, they could interrogate the ra'zac for him, but he overruled them and ordered one of the cells open and two chairs, one of which had lots of restraining devices on it, brought inside.

He then had the ra'zac chained to the chair, before he sat himself down into the one opposite of it with two of his Varangian guards guarding the door on the inside and the other two guarding it on the outside.

The ra'zac looked slightly malnourished and weak, but in otherwise good shape and Mercury guessed that it was likely not as weak as it pretended to be. It was dressed in a simple cloth robe, but still had its hands shackled together.

"You need guardsss to feel sssafe with me in chainsss?", the ra'zac asked haughtily.

"No, you are right", Mercury said, before he turned to the two guards inside the chamber and said, "_leave us, and do not open the door until I say 'sparrow'_".

"_But sir_", one guard managed to say before he was cut off by Mercury saying, "_that was not up for debate_", in a commanding tone. The guards left after that, though they both looked warily at the chained ra'zac before doing so.

"You are not look like the othersss. Why have you come to ssse me?", it asked, sounding generally curious, though after months of being locked up without any news from the outside world, Mercury would probably have been just as eager to learn anything new, even if it was from an enemy.

"I wanted to talk to you", Mercury said and reclined back in his chair, "you see, I have recently been made king of these isles".

"King you sssay?", the ra'zac spit and laughed, "there is no human kingsss anymore, only ra'zac".

"Nevertheless, it is true what I have said", Mercury said, "and I would like to know something about your race. You are capable of surviving on fish and other such meats, as shown by your surviving your imprisonment on them, but you still choose to eat human flesh instead. Why is that?"

"Fish and cowsss does not tassste as sssweet as human flesssh", the ra'zac said surprisingly honestly. Mercury had expected that it would at least try to excuse its actions when confronted by a human-like person that held its life in his hands.

"So you do it because the taste is better? Would proper cooking of other meats not make up for it?", Mercury suggested something that he had pondered for a while.

"We have never tried it, the flesssh of humans was alwaysss good enough", the ra'zac answered, before inquiring, "why do you care? I have heard of you; you are not human either, ssso why concern yourself with our food sssource?"

Now, Mercury knew that in any interrogation, the only way of making sure who was being interrogated, and or manipulated, was to not answer any personal questions, but in order to get what he wanted from this conversation, he would have to risk it.

"I am fond of humans", Mercury answered, "and since they are now my subjects, I have an obligation to protect them".

"Subjectsss are like cattle; you need to raissse them and make them obey you, but you ssstill eat cattle. I cannot sssee the difference between eating cattle and eating humansss", the ra'zac commented, "in both casesss, a life isss taken unwillingly to sssate your appetite".

"While that may be true, cattle and other wildstock are bred to be eaten and would not be as they are today if not for such breeding", Mercury countered.

"Asss did we with the humans", the ra'zac simply said, "ssso what can you sssay to justify you eating cattle but not us eating humansss?"

"When cattle can ask me not to eat them, I will stop doing so", Mercury brushed it off, thinking too much on such similarities would only play into the ra'zac's mindgames, so he decided to change the topic, for now at least, "the ra'zac survivors of your first visit to Alagaësia was said to have their eyes burned by intense light and be mortally afraid of deep water, so why have it not bothered any that I have met here so far?"

"Doesss your eyes not hurt when exposed to sssudden light after a long time of darknesss?", the ra'zac asked instead of answering.

It was clear to Mercury that in order to learn something, he would have to give something, although he would have to be carefully about how little he could give while still keeping the ra'zac talking.

"They do, as do all others'", Mercury acknowledged, "so because you have had to spend so long in the sun, while those spent most of their time away from it, you do not have this problem. But what about the water; your exoskeletons still prevents you from swimming?"

"Like a human eventually learnsss not to fear fire, ssso do we with time learn not to fear the water", the ra'zac simply answered.

"Aha, it makes sense that because the ra'zac and lethrblaka in Alagaësia were the last survivors and did not have any society to learn from, all they had to fall back on were their natural instincts, while your more advanced society taught your young not to be hindered by such obsolete fears", Mercury summarized.

"You admit to our sssociety being advanced?", the ra'zac asked half unbelieving and half prideful.

"Well yes, when compared to many others', you are", Mercury admitted without trouble, "it could use a few changes here and there, but so could most. I have to admit that if not for the eating of humans and enslaving of them, I would have actually found your society to be a quite nice one".

Stroking their ego seemed to make the ra'zac more talkative and more likely to let slip something that it should not have said. It also made it easier to influence the ra'zac if it did not consider him as a staunch enemy of everything that it stood for, though Mercury still found it likely that it also knew that he was trying to manipulate its thinking, just as it was trying to do to him.

"Perhapsss if I could sssee the changesss that you are enforcing, my race might be willing to ssshare power?", the ra'zac asked, "after all, are you any different than usss if you, asss another ssspecies, rule over the humansss like a shepherd over cattle without ever wishing to ssshare power with thossse below you? We have experience in shepherding the flock, ssso we could advissse you".

This was why Mercury would not have brought Loivissa with him to interview the ra'zac under any circumstances, as its attempts at psychological manipulation of fears, desires and other such things might have gotten to her. The obvious attempt to peck him to death while touring the city was just a smokescreen for its real plot; to undermine Mercury's confidence to rule efficiently and trust his own judgement.

"Unfortunately, I have other plans this evening, but I might stop by some other day to let you know a little more of what goes on outside these four walls", Mercury declined and began to rise from his seat, "which reminds me, I have never gotten to know your name; the one that you take on so that the humans can tell you apart".

"It isss Telcontar", the ra'zac said, "it was a pleasssure to meet you. I hope that you come again, ssso that we may chat sssome more".

"We will see, Telcontar", Mercury responded with a dip of his head, before he ventured towards the door and gave the password to get out.

It had been an interesting and enlightening afternoon after all. He had learned a great deal about ra'zac psychology and culture, and he was now one step closer to finding a solution to the problem of what to do with them after the war.

* * *

So, Mercury is still keeping quite a few secrets, though it would hardly be like him not to do so.


	25. Breaching the gates

And happy Mammoth Monday to you all.

I just realized something this morning; when you are writing a sidestory to your main storyline and it caps 17k words with you only being about 2/3 done, then it might begin to push at the definition of a sidetory, unless of course you consider a sidestory to be defined as a story within the universe but that you do not need to read in order to keep up...

So with that note, I am blowing open the gates

* * *

**Breaching the gates**

**Mercury POV(18 days later)  
**Mercury watched as Adûn made another pass on the walls of Viana, incinerating what fools that had dared to climb back up the walls either under harsh orders from their leaders or through some bravery on their own.

Below the walls, a massive tree trunk turned ram was used to break down the gates. Since Adûn and Loivissa made sure that no archers were on the walls to harass the dökkálfar battering down the gate, the men beneath the walls had nothing to worry about, other than breaking down the gate.

Mercury watched the events unfold as they did from atop his white horse from his position on a hill at the back of his army, where he was surrounded by his Varangian Guard. Though the danger of being shot at was minimal, and despite of the fact that he still had wards to divert any arrows that might have found their way to him, he did not really see any reason for him or his guard to be in shooting range.

It had been 18 days since his first visit to the ra'zac named Telcontar, 11 days since he set out from Tel Rascian with his portion of the southern army and it was only yesterday that he had begun laying siege to Viana and that his own navy had grown large enough to allow the Summerborn navy to leave the Sea of Tel to begin their raids on the coastal cities of Atkins.

They would not attempt to capture Atkins this time around, as it really did not have enough of value to them at the moment to warrant wasting manpower on it, but they were determined to neutralize any remaining threat from the island.

Another effect from Mercury's recruitment campaign was that Kilgharrah had been able to leave The Capital late last night, so Mercury expected to see him sometime this evening or tomorrow morning, depending on whether he stopped to sleep and hunt.

"_The gate will not budge, your highness, it is being reinforced with magic. The men are asking what to do?_", the advisor responsible for the Centurions near the gate asked.

"_Keep ramming it_", Mercury simply answered, "_it will break sooner or later_".

"_Yes, your highness_", the advisor obliged and forwarded his order.

_If they intend to waste all of their mages' energy on holding the gate, then why try to hinder them?_, Mercury mused, _their archers cannot harm my soldiers, because of Adûn and Loivissa, and if they hope to hold out until the enemy army that was sent south to Druck gets here, then I am afraid to say that according to my latest reports, it was engaged and destroyed without any trouble by the southern part of my army not two days ago, although I have to admit that I did not expect my southern army to reach the enemy for another day or so._

At first, Mercury had been slightly irritated that this part of his army did not have any siege engines, as all of his previous ones had been transferred to the more needing southern part of his army, but since the enemy mages had insisted on wasting their energy on reinforcing the gate, it had turned out better than if he had been able to breach the walls immediately. All energy wasted on the gate was energy that could not be used against his troops when they entered the city, after all.

Since Atkins would not be a threat for much longer, combined with the fact that the enemy had to be panicking from their recent losses and thought more about securing their remaining lands than trying to sneak forces into Mercury's captured lands, Hydronium was no longer in any immediate danger of being attacked.

As a direct premonition of this, Mercury had ordered half the city's wall-mounted siege engines to be converted to mobile ones and then to head west to meet up with his army back when he was still working on his administration in The Capital, although since they were still 16 days away from Viana, Mercury doubted that he would have them until after he took Ottaviano.

There probably would not be much left of the Ra'zac Empire's army by then to use them on, but just in case that the ra'zac did manage to conscript quite a few more to their army, he would be ready for them, and in any case, their added firepower would make taking Terzigno and Ercolano much easier.

If the siege of Ottaviano proved to be quick and effortless enough, Mercury might even be willing to split his army in two again, although it was a greater risk this time around, as there would not be so long from the ra'zac strongholds to his individual armies, which meant that one half could be destroyed if the siege turned into a long-drawn affair and the ra'zac army made it in time.

Although with the added siege engines from Hydronium, it would be unlikely that the sieges would be long-drawn, which meant that if he could get either Kilgharrah or Loivissa and Adûn to go with the other army group, then the risks should be small enough to be worth it, if the siege of Ottaviano did not prove too difficult, that is.

Speaking of Loivissa, Mercury let his gaze wander to her petite form on Adûn's back in the distance, as they once again dived, only this time, Adûn smashed a guard tower to rubble with his tail. They were becoming finely tuned instruments of death, and although Mercury was overall glad for the fact that Loivissa no longer had a mental wound to be nursed after each major engagement, he could not help but feel that something precious was lost to her after each engagement.

_I wonder how well they will do after the fighting is finally over_, Mercury mused.

He knew that transitioning from a mental state of war to one of peace was not always the easiest thing to do, considering that he himself spent a little more than a century, and had a couple of mental breakdowns during the period, before he finally found a way to create balance within his mind.

This time would hopefully be different, as Loivissa was of a different constitution than Mercury, combined with the facts that this would not take as long or be as paranoia-inducing as the Shadow War, and that she was not mentally isolated in the crucial years afterwards, as he had been.

_Perhaps it would be best for her to go home shortly after this war has ended_, Mercury mused, although he knew that she had promised to stay here, _I think that seeing her niece again would definitely do wonders for any lingering mental issues from the war, and since it will likely be a few years before this country is presentable enough to have her niece come to her, that seems to-_

Mercury never got to finish the thought as one from his Guard suddenly shouted, "_there is someone coming from behind us!_"

_Strange, the southern army should not be here for another 6 days_, Mercury wondered as he turned around to look at the source of the man's exclaim.

What he saw however, was not the other half of his army, but rather what looked to be an enemy cavalry charge. They did not look to number above 200, but this number still far exceeded what could have been smuggled behind Mercury's lines without his notice.

"_Bloody hell! Slava, take the others and run forward and set up a spear-wall with the Centurions at the back! You are in command while my Guard and I hold them off! Do not stop the attack on the city…and make sure to tell my apprentice that she is to not stop what she is currently doing to try and aid me!_", Mercury shouted his instructions while turning his neighing horse around abruptly, before he grabbed a spear from one of his advisors, which was so long because of the dökkálfar height that it would make due as a lance, and shouted to his Guard, "_spearmen to the front, swordsmen behind!_"

Just as his roughly 40 Varangian Guards began to move into position at the top of the hill to give themselves a much needed advantage, Mercury rode past them in full sprint down towards the trampling hooves of the enemy with the newly acquired spear in position.

His Guard would never have time to get properly set up before the enemy cavalry would smash into them, so he had to give them some time to do so. In Mercury's mind, this was not some sort of bravery on his part, as he simply estimated that if he could gain a little more time for his Guard to set up positions, his, and his Guard's, overall chances of survival would be greater.

As he had anticipated, a lone enemy rider soon outran the rest of his men from his position in the centre front line to try and confront Mercury directly. Based on the far better quality of the armour that he wore than that of his men, Mercury had guessed him to be the enemy commander, and when Mercury so blatantly rode out to meet him alone, his sense of honour and dignity would likely force him to abandon reason and his men in favour of meeting the challenger head on, especially when that challenger was the now infamous Mercury Iridium.

The two duellists rushed towards each other at a breakneck pace; Mercury's enemy on his strong looking black horse with his steel armour and lance at the ready, and Mercury on his white still unnamed, as it to Mercury still only was a mode of transport at best and a source of meat at the least, horse in his complete customary black leather armour with his cloak bellowing behind him and the improvised lance also at the ready.

As the distance between them closed, Mercury mused how this scene kind of reminded him of two knights in a medieval jousting arena. The enemy certainly seemed to think of this as such, as he prepared himself to fight as an honourable knight would.

Too bad that Mercury did not care for such things.

From its place at his belt, Mercury drew the miniature crossbow that had been there for every engagement thus far, along with five extra bolts, though he seriously doubted that he would ever get to use them all in one single combat, and just as Mercury could see the surprise and subsequent indignation in his opponent's eyes, he fired the bolt.

Whether through some elaborate wards that his bolt was not powerful enough to penetrate or because Mercury was not used to firing from the back of a galloping horse, the bolt swerved off its course towards the enemy's torso and instead landed in the head of his opponent's black horse.

The effect was instant, as the horse crumpled to the ground and threw its now faster moving rider off in front of it, where he landed with his head at an odd angle and a clank of the metal cuirass that was pressing his head further into the ground, before he was covered by the body of his horse.

He was dead, no doubts about that, but the effects of his death reached beyond him, as the riders under his command stopped their horses in a moment of confusion and surprise at the sudden death of their leader. Mercury, seeing that this was likely to be the maximum amount of time that he could produce, quickly turned his horse around and sped back up the hill before the enemy riders would come out of their stupor and decide that vengeance was the best course of action.

Mercury only just rode between his now well-positioned Guard, which had formed a small half-circle facing down towards their enemy with the spearmen acting as the first line and the swordsmen as the second line, as a collective roar of rage from the enemy and a cheer from his own Guard at his actions converged.

The enemy started up their gallop again, but his little stunt had bought them the time that they needed, so as the enemy riders slowly picked up speed again, Mercury used the time to reload his crossbow. It was not particularly effective as a long-ranged weapon, like a bow or a regular sized crossbow would have been, but it had the distinct advantage of making Mercury able to surprise his enemies when they thought that they were out of range from his melee weapons.

He also had his shurikens, but those required just a split-second more of concentration to aim and throw accurately than an already readied miniature crossbow.

Finally, the two forces clashed on the top of the hill, and despite the precision strikes and steadfastly dökkálfar in his Varangian Guard, the enemy's superior numbers and sheer speed and mass of their horses slowly splintered his first line of spearmen with only a little more than a dozen fatalities on their side.

The second line of swordsmen were however ready to try and stem the tide by hacking at the enemy riders, as the height of the dökkálfar made them stand with their heads above the horses' heads, which enabled them to fight far more evenly with riders than humans or elves ever could have.

A little more than 20 fell at their swords, before the enemy eventually broke through this line as well. Mercury quickly stabbed the horse of the first horseman that came through the lines in the chest with his newly acquired spear, which made it, and its rider, fall down to the ground, but another quickly took his place.

With his lines broken, all ideas of organizing the fight disappeared, as it quickly evolved into brutal single-combat, combined with the sporadic groups that managed to cluster together before they were driven apart by the enemy numbers.

Mercury continued to fight from atop his horse, as trying to do so from the ground would be akin to asking for death to find him, but despite this evening out the odds of his actual fighting, it also worsened the overall conditions for Mercury.

Being the only rider among his men, making him quite easily recognizable as the one that killed their leader, Mercury also served as a rallying point for the enemy to converge on, while his own men were far too preoccupied with keeping themselves alive to even think of trying to force their way to Mercury's side.

Mercury swung his spear in a circle around him wildly with the intent to create space between his attackers and him rather than actually kill anyone. The swing only managed to make a gash in the side of an enemy horse that was not quite far enough away, but otherwise did no damage and his attackers soon closed in again.

The first to venture near him had to block Mercury's strike with his shield, but was unprepared when Mercury twisted the spear around and used the end of it to butt the rider's horse in the head, making it madly rear and throw its rider off, before Mercury thrust the tip of the spear behind him to the surprise of the enemy rider that had thought that he was undetected, as it penetrated his thin layer of armour and made him gasp as Mercury swiftly pulled it out again.

Mercury's wards had to deflect a strike from his left side, which Mercury quickly followed up by swinging the spear in that direction, though the intent was more to knock the rider off his horse than to injure him, as he did not have time to prepare for such a blow.

Just as Mercury turned around to see his new adversary fall off his horse, he discovered to his horror that his spear was not about to collide with the man's chest, as he had intended it to, but that it was instead about to be cut nearly in half by the man's already swinging sword.

Both the sword and the spear had too much momentum for either party to stop their actions, and as the sharpened edge of the sword connected with the blunt wooden shaft of the spear, the spear, having not been reinforced by magic of any kind, naturally was the one to give and was quickly cut in half.

Frustrated at the loss of his longer ranged weapon, Mercury threw the now useless bottom half of the spear at the rider that had cut it in half, which made a satisfactory crack as it connected with his head. Just as he was about to reach behind him and draw his sword, Mercury had to dodge another sword strike from yet another opponent.

Instead of trying to draw his sword again, which took precious time, Mercury instead reached into his belt and drew the crossbow and fired it straight at the enemy's chest, where it impacted and made him limply fall off the side of his horse.

Another thrust from his back with a spear that only missed his head by centimetres thanks to his wards, made Mercury abandon yet another attempt at trying to draw his sword with his free hand in favour of throwing his now empty crossbow at the enemy that had just tried to take him out from behind.

The crossbow impacted on the enemy's shield, where it unfortunately broke, to Mercury's chagrin, but by the time his now visibly pleased enemy got ready to make another thrust with his spear, he was suddenly sliced in half.

Standing on the other side of the now dead enemy's horse was a small group of Mercury's Varangian guards. The one that had done the slicing appeared to be the newest addition to his guard, also known as Vardo Lilirith, and never before had Mercury been so glad that he had in the end decided to induct him into his Guard.

"_We cannot have you keep all the enemies to yourself; we want some of them too_", one of them said jokingly.

"_If you can take them before I do, then they are yours_", Mercury tried replying in the same light-aired tone in an attempt to heighten their spirits, while he finally had time to draw his sword.

They quickly formed formation around Mercury's horse, with the two spearmen each taking a side, while the remaining three swordsmen took up positions behind and to the side of his horse, so that Mercury only had to concentrate on what was in front of him.

Using a sword, even one as long as Mercury's katana, from horseback was much different than using a spear, as the sword's limited range required you to either have your opponent ride almost to your side to effectively combat him or to make your own horse turn sideways to avoid having to reach past its head.

On more than a few occasions, Mercury resorted to using his quickly dwindling supply of shurikens to surprise and kill his enemies, but they quickly wizened up and Mercury was soon reduced to using the shurikens as a method of gaining a killing strike, rather than to actually kill someone, that is, until his supply ran out and he was forced to think of other ideas to surprise, or cheat his opponents, as some more honourable fighters would no doubt argue. If fighting fairly meant dying, then there really was not much of an insensitive to do so in Mercury's mind.

As the fight dragged on, the rows of enemies slowly grew smaller until Mercury could actually see where the rest of his Varangian Guard were. He counted about seven or eight other small groups, which had all formed circle-formations, as they had been drilled to do, and were hacking and slashing at the enemy horsemen that neared them.

His own group had only lost one member since its formation, an unfortunate spearman that had not been able to get out of the way as the mad horse that he had just pierced ran him over, but almost all of them were bleeding from some small or not so small wound, Mercury included, as he had gained a nasty cut on his upper right arm that made it next to impossible to use it and forced him to keep it steady in his lap so as to not worsen the wound.

The reason that no other major wounds had been inflicted on Mercury and his guards was that since all of them were mages, or as in Mercury's case; had his wards embedded into his armour and designed to not give out until a certain point was reached, which they had a while ago.

At this point, it did not matter though, as the quickly dwindling enemy horsemen also began to figure out that they were not nearly as many as they had started with being, now being reduced to less than three dozen, where only one dozen of those were still mounted, and after a few more had died in last ditch efforts to break through the circles and sow some amount of chaos, the attackers turned into routers.

About a dozen more were slain when they attempted to turn their horses and another dozen and a half fell when the spear-carrying dökkálfar decided to throw their spears after the fleeing horsemen. Mercury rode another dismounted enemy down as he quickly rode out and cut off the escape route of the last three mounted horsemen, which forced them to stop and then be caught by the chasing dökkálfar swordsmen.

Panting from exertion, Mercury patted the side of his horse, the hide of which had been stained red with blood, as he looked around the battlefield. From his first estimate, a little more than a third of his Varangian Guard was still in fighting condition, evident by them finishing off already dying enemies in either an act of mercy or retribution, trying to round up the horses without riders and rounding up any enemies that were not immediately about to die, while another third or so looked to be either making makeshift bandages to tend to their own wounds or to the ones that could not do so themselves, evidently being too exhausted to try and magically heal each other, and the last third was either dead or simply lying on the ground.

Nobody looked to have come out completely unscathed, though some escaped the fray with only small cuts and bruises. As Mercury watched a dökkálfar chase after a horse running wild, he noted how well his own horse had managed during the fray.

Despite it receiving a few slashes and cuts, as well as being forced to stamp the chest out on one unlucky enemy, it had never actually gone wild or panicked. Mercury patted its neck once more in appreciation for its efforts, while mentally noting that its value had now increased to not being immediately replaceable at the nearest town or city. Creatures with this amount of calm under duress were hard to come by.

Now that the fighting was finally over, Mercury finally had time to process just where these horsemen had come from and what their purpose had been. Based on the state of some of the horses and their riders, Mercury guessed that at least some of them had not been used as cavalry until now.

This made Mercury suspect that the reason for his southern army's hasty encounter with the enemy forces was because they had saddled up all available horses both war- and cargo-horses, which had then abandoned the main group to a slower overall pace, while they rode on ahead to attack Mercury's forces from behind.

This scenario then led to the suspicion that since there was no way that 200 horsemen could have broken Mercury's entire force, their only goal had been to clash into them from behind and kill as many as they could, which Mercury suspected would have been a lot if he had not decided to place his Varangian Guard on the only hill in the area to oversee the proceedings, which was coincidentally also so far behind the frontline that the riders would have remained completely undetected and would have then ridden downhill when they slammed into Mercury's exposed rear.

It was then that Mercury heard a trampling sound from behind him, and in an immediate reflex, he turned his neighing horse around with his sword raised to strike, when he noticed that the trampling was not from some unknown enemy, but rather what looked to be an entire Centurion from his main force.

"_We were sent to tell you that the gates have been breached and to ask whether you need reinforcements?_", the Centurinus of the Centurion said as he approached Mercury.

Mercury looked around the battlefield, which was covered by dead and dying horsemen lying next to their also dead or dying horses, while the few survivors were being squeezed together by some understandably not all too friendly dökkálfar soldiers, before he returned his attention to the Centurinus and said, "_we are good, but some healers would be nice_".

* * *

So, what did you think? Was it nice to see Mercury finally getting some action after such a long time of absence?


	26. Finally becoming one

**Finally becoming one**

**Mercury POV(a week later)  
**It was midday, a week from Mercury and his Varangian Guard's little skirmish with the enemy cavalry attack. The city of Viana had fallen shortly after their gates had been breached. There had not been all that much resistance from them after that, especially from their mages, as they had expended quite a lot of energy to keep the gates up.

After their defences had fallen, the populace had become quite compliant, probably in the hope that if they did not stand out too much, then these hideous beasts would not devour them and their children. It was unfortunately a problem that was hard to deal with.

The general populace of the former Ra'zac Supreme had lived for centuries with the very simple rulebook that said that if you opposed the ra'zac, you got eaten, if you stood out too much in a negative light during a visit of theirs, you got eaten, and unless you were exceptionally skilled at what you did, the ra'zac might just eat when visiting anyway.

Still, to them, it had always given a far higher chance of survival if you were one with the flock. It was the same logic that many fish and other herd animals used to increase their chances against predators, and in a twisted morbid place of his mind, Mercury could not help but be slightly intrigued by it.

Sure, it was something that he would make sure was banned when he finally got full control over the islands, but it was still an interesting social experiment to view; how, despite all of their superior knowledge, brainpower and so on, humans would still revert to animalistic methods when they were now the helpless prey.

But alas, he had let his mind wander again, when it should have stayed on topic. Needless to say, the populace of each city that they had taken had all been quite confused and suspicious when no random punishments had been administered and no one had been eaten yet.

It often took some translators followed by willing human citizens from elsewhere in Damocles walking around with small gifts like toys or candy, which enticed many a child before their parents could stop them, to convince the populace of the city that none of them were in fact going to get eaten or rounded up as slaves.

It had been Loivissa's idea to do so, and although Mercury had silently mused that it sounded a lot like how he would kidnap a child, he had obliged her request. The trick seemed to work though, as the parents of the child would quickly come running to fetch their child before it could be taken from them, only to have to stay there and listen when the child discovered that it was safe and that it could get more candy that way and would therefore not come back home with its parents.

Queue the domino effect, where all of the good-will ambassadors were soon swarmed by children wanting free candy and toys, which were only reluctantly followed by their far more distrusting parents. Mercury supposed that that meant that the efforts were at least partially successful, as since the children would now have a positive view of the dökkálfar, and they were the next generation after all, then the entire population of Damocles would slowly become more accepting of them.

This was a particularly good thing for Mercury, as he certainly did not wish to become estranged with the dökkálfar of Alalëa, and it would help somewhat when he had to begin the payments to them. Paying large amounts to someone that your people hated always seemed to Mercury to be a recipe for discontent.

Speaking of payments, Mercury would have to find capable and somewhat loyal soldiers willing to accept the extra payments that went with joining the Varangian Guard. The skirmish, although victorious, had taken its toll on the unit.

There were 14 dead, seven handicapped beyond magical repair and four still recuperating from severe injuries, although they would be able to resume their posts when they were healed. He had to permanently replace 21 out of the previous 40 in his Guard, and make temporary replacements for an additional four of them.

Mercury's own injury had not been that grave, or at least not immediately life-threatening, so he had just bandaged it up to stop the bleeding and waited until Loivissa was done with her tasks in the city for her to heal it up again.

She had not been pleased when she had seen him, especially because he had specifically told her not to withdraw from her assignment and fly to his rescue.

Mercury had tried to calmly and slowly explain to her how she had saved more lives by continuing to pin down the enemy archers on the walls than she could have by helping him, which had not done much good, and the unedited version of what Mercury recalled about the battle had certainly not helped things either, which in hindsight, Mercury wished that he had edited a few things out of.

When Kilgharrah had arrived later that night, he had not been that amused at the recount either, although his response had been far more subtle, as he had just admonished Mercury for not calling for reinforcements immediately, which in Kilgharrah's case, meant that he was very displeased by the threat to Mercury's life.

Although Mercury had not mentioned it to anyone, he actually thought that he had called for reinforcements, although he had not specifically mentioned it. Mercury had sent Slava back to organize the defence and had expected him to send a detachment of spearmen immediately, not until after he had finished organizing the defensive line.

In retrospect, Mercury should have known that taking such initiative was not Slava's style. Slava was an expert in defensive positions and holding his ground, which was why Mercury had entrusted the task of setting up the defence to him, but he would never risk a detachment until his main force was secure.

It had been an error on Mercury's part, not Slava's, as Mercury, as the Commander of the army, should have known and considered such things before he had ordered his men about. The rush of the moment was no excuse.

Directly opposite to Loivissa and Kilgharrah, the rest of Mercury's army seemed to find great joy in retelling how Mercury and his barely 40 guards managed to not only stop an enemy cavalry force of 200 attacking suddenly from behind, but defeat and utterly crush them as well, although the enemy numbers seemed to rise with every retelling, being around 500 at the moment.

It had given quite the reputation to the Varangian Guard, which until that skirmish had been considered nothing more than a glorified guard-unit. Now they were considered as being the most elite unit in the army, and veterans, especially wounded ones, from the skirmish were generally treated with far more respect at communal meals and gatherings than they had been previously.

_I suppose that it is good for them after what happened_, Mercury mused, as he rifled through some status reports from Naina, _though if they begin getting cocky, then I will have to remind them that such an attitude is not wanted_.

There was not actually a very high chance of the original members of the Guard becoming cocky. No, the problem would most likely be found in the new recruits, as the original ones generally seemed to have a mixture of pride in their achievement, but sadness at the loss of so many of their close comrades.

Mercury had made it mandatory for the entire Guard, himself included, to attend every funeral pyre of their fallen comrades to both show their respects to the fallen and to knit the unit closer together. Funeral pyres were not actually the norm when someone died, as they took far too much fuel to be feasible for a large army, but if someone gave an exceptional last stand or otherwise was deemed heroic enough, then it was allowed.

"Did anything interesting happen back at The Capital?", Loivissa asked from her position stretched out on his bed.

"You awoke from your nap", Mercury said and looked over at her, "no, nothing of real importance has happened so far".

"I was not asleep, I was meditating", Loivissa pouted playfully.

"So I suppose that when I poked at you earlier, you just chose not to respond?", Mercury questioned mischievously, as he pushed his paperwork away.

They were not actually that important to do right now anyway, as he had only been doing them to pass time until his next meeting with the Supreme Commander, which should happen any moment now, and since it was much more fun to toy with Loivissa, that option won.

"I might have, if it had actually happened", Loivissa simply said with an amused grin while studying her nails.

"What makes you say that it did not happen?", Mercury asked intrigued.

"I know you", Loivissa simply said, "you would never do something like that to my sleeping form".

"So you were asleep then?", Mercury quickly recovered from his initial plan.

It was becoming more and more difficult to play mindgames with her, which was Mercury's favourite means of toying with someone. Loivissa had been subject to his ministrations for too long and had begun picking up on what he would and would not do, which greatly limited the possibilities to suggest that he had done something to her, although he really had not done anything.

"Mercury…", Loivissa said.

"Yes?", Mercury asked innocently.

"Stop trying to use me to alleviate your boredom", Loivissa said simply.

"But Kilgharrah has not reacted to it for centuries now", Mercury pouted.

"And you do not have any other way to entertain yourself than playing with people's minds?", Loivissa questioned in a slightly admonishing tone.

"I had", Mercury answered playfully sullen, "but the puzzle is still on my ship, as are all of my books, and I doubt that I can leave the army for a few weeks to go exploring, and it is unlikely that I shall be given many other opportunities to participate in the actual fighting".

As much as Mercury maintained that his place was at the back, controlling the flow of the battle, he still longed to actually participate in the actual fighting. Nothing gave an adrenalin kick and spiced up a dull day like a brief brush with death.

"So all of your toys are gone and you cannot go play with the other kids", Loivissa mocked, "there are other ways to entertain yourself when you are a grown up".

"Exactly, but you are no fun playing with anymore", Mercury complained.

"_Am I interrupting anything?_", the Supreme Commander suddenly asked from Mercury's enchanted mirror.

"_Not at all, we were just discussing something unimportant_", Mercury quickly answered and admonished himself for not noticing the presence earlier. It was simple luck that the Supreme Commander never bothered to learn the human tongue and therefore did not understand what was said.

"_Good, I wanted to discuss your latest report_", the Supreme Commander said.

"_What about it?_", Mercury questioned, "_as I mentioned in the report, the city has fallen and order has begun to be restored, and I believe that my actions during the ambush incident were prudent_".

"_Well, I do not_", the Supreme Commander objected, "_if you had died, our enemy would have gained new courage and it would have been a blow to our long-term strategy_".

"_I could not have abandoned my Guard to face the enemy on their own_", Mercury objected, "_it would have demoralized them and such an action would have turned the entire army against me for my display of cowardice, and then our long-term strategy would have been in jeopardy. I felt that my participation could turn the tide from defeat to victory, and I was right_".

"_At the expense of much of your Guard, yes_", the Supreme Commander commented, "_but I did not call for this meeting simply to discuss this, so let me just remind you that you are not allowed to die yet. What are your plans for the volcano of Rushno?_"

"_If the city of Ottaviano falls easily, I plan to divide my troops up yet again when the extra siege engines from Hydronium arrive_", Mercury explained, "_if I can take the cities of Ottaviano, Terzigno and Ercolano quickly, then I will be able to reform my army at the crossroad to Irisweld to stop any response the Ra'zac Empire can muster_".

"_It seems a fair decision if it can be done quickly enough_", the Supreme Commander agreed, "_I am in the midst of securing the countryside surrounding Middelfart in preparation to lay siege to it, but I think that if you beat the Ra'zac Empire's army when you have planned, then my remaining conquests can be done much quicker_".

"_I concur; if my plan works out, there will be no need for secrecy any longer_", Mercury agreed.

"_Good, then I will see you in person when we next meet in Kalt_", the Supreme Commander said.

"_Will you, or should I take care of Tel Betri?_", Mercury questioned.

"_hmm, I suppose that I could send a detachment to take care of it if you provide support from the Sea of Tel_", the Supreme Commander suggested.

"_Then it shall be so_", Mercury obliged, "_until our next meeting_", before he punched his chest in the dökkálfar tradition.

"_Until our next meeting_", the Supreme Commander copied his words and actions, before he cut off the connection.

"Something unimportant, huh?", Loivissa, who until then had kept quiet and out of sight, said.

"It was unimportant to matters involving him", Mercury answered.

"If you look at it that way…", Loivissa trailed off, before resuming on another line of thought, "so, who is going?"

"Hmm?", Mercury uttered confused.

"You just said that you would divide up your army after Ottaviano, and since you now have two dragons under your command, it is only reasonable to assume that one is being sent with the army that you are not with, so my question remains; is Kilgharrah or Adûn and I going with the other army?", Loivissa clarified.

"I need to talk to Kilgharrah about it", Mercury tried postponing the decision for later, "besides, the discussion only becomes valid if Ottaviano falls as easily as I hope that it will".

"Why is it that you only seem to postpone things with matters involving me?", Loivissa asked with an undertone that Mercury was not entirely sure what was, "have you been 'postponing' anything else involving me?"

Luckily, a knock to the office door enabled Mercury to evade answering that question. After a brief, "_enter_", and a last look from Loivissa stating that this was not over, before she moved to stand at his side, the new guest, or guests actually, as there were apparently more than one, came inside.

The ones that came inside were: Vollar, the one Mercury had put in charge of his southern army the last time he had split up his army, Teleri, a respected and capable but unimaginative officer, Slava, the best defence-oriented officer in Mercury's arsenal, Hsath, the head of intelligence, as well as most of the rest of his command staff.

Seeing all of them together like this, uninvited and unannounced, made Mercury's mind automatically jump to the most plausible of his scenarios that involved his entire command staff organizing something without his knowledge; a coup d'état.

His hand had already begun to secretly reach for the miniature crossbow under his desk, when Vollar, the apparent spokesperson of the group, said, "_we, the officers and our fellow soldiers, have been considering something for a while, and we have finally come to an agreement on the matter_".

"_I assume that this has something to do with me_", Mercury stated, while keeping a steady hand on the hidden crossbow and feeling Loivissa tense up behind him when she caught sight of his hand's position.

"_It has_", Vollar agreed, before he took a final look at his fellow conspirators and then drew his sword, put the tip in the ground and sunk down on one knee with his hands on the handle.

Mercury had almost shot him the moment the sword had been drawn, but he was now more confused at what he was about to do, when the other officers similarly copied his actions and sunk down on their knees.

"_We would like to swear ourselves to you, your highness, and the kingdom of Damocles_", Vollar surprised Mercury by saying.

This…was not a part in any scenario that Mercury had thought of. Never had it crossed his mind that well-paid and respected dökkálfar officers would rescind their affiliation with their city states and swear themselves to him and his new kingdom.

Although he knew that roman legions had from time to time turned on their emperors and state and declared their commander the new emperor, he had never expected it to happen to him, especially after such a relatively short amount of time had passed since he took command.

"_You do realize that if I accept your pledge, you will be rescinding all former pledges and vows to whatever city state you originally hail from?_", Mercury asked as he folded his hands in front of him. He needed to be sure that they knew what they were going in to before anything was done.

A brief shutter went through the group now kneeling, before Vollar once again spoke, "_we are aware of the consequences of our actions and were hoping that once the war is over, we, and our families, would be allowed to resettle in your new kingdom, your highness_".

"_How many are 'we'?_", Mercury asked pointedly.

"_As I said, the officers and soldiers alike have declared this their intentions_", Vollar answered.

So Mercury would have to relocate and house 10.000 troops and their families if he accepted this pledge? That could easily turn out to be more than 50.000 people that he would be stealing away from right under the noses of their previous anaxes and ánassas. 50.000 was no small number, and given the sparse population density of Alalëa, it was quite a lot of its people.

Doing something like that would not only be a major slap in the face to the Supreme Commander, who represented the united city states of Alalëa in all matters on this expedition, but if word got out that he had made an entire army forswear their oaths and become his new personal army, then the least that would happen was that the cordial relations and cooperation between the Supreme Commander and Mercury would turn icy, and the worst would be that the Supreme Commander withdrew all support before the war was over in protest.

"_I would like to hear the reasons that have led you to this decision_", Mercury requested to both gauge how deep their loyalty to him personally ran, and in a bid to gain a little more time to think the ramifications of this over.

"_We figured as much, and although many have differing reasons that not all agree to, we have all come to the agreement on these arguments_", Vollar obliged, "_the actions of the Supreme Commander in regards to our continued survival against the full onslaught of our common enemy leads us to believe that he does not care for us any more than he would by trying to squeeze a few extra drops of milk out of a dying elk._

_When you first came to us, we were in despair and without much hope for the future. Although your changes were radical and foreign, they also gave us a small glimmer of hope, and after the siege of Tel Noach, we were beginning to regain our former confidence. Then after the battle of Red Grass, we began to believe that with you as our Commander, we would be able to beat anything that the Ra'zac Empire threw at us in spite of our lacking numbers when compared to the past or to the Supreme Commander's army in the north._

_After that battle, many were willing to swear themselves to you, but others cautioned them that because you never personally took part in any fighting, you could simply be using us, and the more practical ones warned us that even if we did swear ourselves to you, there would be no place for us to go after the war had ended._

_But those arguments were swept aside as you laid claim to these isles and held off an enemy ambush with only your personal Guard unit with you. You could have easily ridden to safety with the rest of your command staff, but you chose to instead meet the enemy head on and prove to us that your absence in battle was not because you were inept or afraid, but because you believed that your presence did more good directing the battle than participating in it._

_You have become the men's guiding star, and they would follow you into whatever watery hell you chose if you asked it of them. For these reasons, we would like to once again offer to swear ourselves to you and your kingdom of Damocles, your highness_".

As Vollar finished what was no doubt a rehearsed speech, Mercury also came to a conclusion on the matter. He had been half listening and half pondering his options during the extensive speech, but that did not mean that he had not paid attention to both.

Although he could say that he was surprised that his own actions during the ambush was the final trigger for this, as he really never had thought his participation in the battle as anything special to his army.

HIS army! For so long now, Mercury had thought of them as such simply because it was the army that he was responsible for, but if he accepted this pledge, then they truly would be HIS men under no higher authority than HIM.

_Things sure have changed a lot from just two years ago_, Mercury mused, _back then, I was wandering the world, nationless and without any other commitments than those to Kilgharrah and Naina, but now I have not only declared war on the mightiest state in the world, and am winning it, but have a kingdom to look after, a personal army at my fingertips if I so choose and…Loivissa_.

His thought process stopped there, not really knowing how to categorize Loivissa in his mind. Naina was his charge, Kilgharrah was his partner and soul-brother, Damocles was his kingdom to look after and rebuild, but Loivissa was…something else, something different from all of those.

Never mind, it could wait for now to categorize Loivissa, as he rose from his desk, walked around it to stand directly before his officers, and said in a formal tone, "_if this is your will, then I accept it and ask that you rise and never again bow down to an authority not of my own_".

A gulp escaped Loivissa, but it went unnoticed as the officers rose from their positions to once again tower over Mercury, before he said in a less formal tone, "_when can I inform the soldier of what I have decided?_"

"_Right away, your highness_", Vollar answered, "_they have gathered outside in anticipation of your answer_".

Mercury did a double intake of air at the news that he would have to make a speech that he had not prepared for, before he gestured for Loivissa to follow him outside and then went outside his temporary office in the city to view the parade grounds in front of it.

Gathered there on the parade ground was his entire army divided up into the rectangles of the Centurions, and the moment they saw him step outside, they began to either clap their swords against their shields or stamp in the ground with the end of their spears.

It was quite the moving sight to see, and what made it even more so was the knowledge that each and every one of them had chosen to follow HIM rather than the city state of their birth. The noise eventually stopped when Mercury reached a small improvised podium directly in the front centre of the gathered army and held out his hands to silence them.

"_Dökkálfar! I am honoured by your devotion and have accepted your pledge and will enable your wishes to come to fruition once this war is over!_", Mercury proclaimed in a raised voice, which instigated a round of cheering, before Mercury could get the word again, "_in appreciation of your pledge, I hereby dub this army as the first of the Swords of Damocles! This army shall forever be known as the elite army that surpasses all others! You will write its history, and I have no doubt that it will be well-written!_"

Yet another round of cheering occurred at this, before Mercury finally could get to the third and most important part of what he wanted to say, "_as much as I wish that we could openly declare this momentous occasion, I fear that in order to not prolong this war unnecessarily, we will have to keep this turn of events to ourselves for the moment. This should not be considered as deceit against your fellow dökkálfar in the other armies and navies, but rather as a precaution to ensure that our common enemy, the Ra'zac Empire, cannot use this information to sow malcontent among troops that should be allied. Will you adhere to this first request of mine?_"

"_We will!_", the army almost shouted in unison.

"_Then let forever this day be known as the day that the First Sword of Damocles was formed and have a drink tonight on my expense tonight_", Mercury declared and ended his speech.

He had done it. He had formed the first of his new kingdom's armies. The name for them had been decided the moment that he had renamed the isles, as he would sit on the throne of Damocles and they would become the Swords of Damocles. It all fitted quite nicely in Mercury's mind as both a personal reminder and a general notion of what armies were.

* * *

Now then, things are progressing quite nicely in my opinion. Oh, and to VaderTahu101, this will be the final clue to why he named it as such.


	27. No one home

Is it still considered a sidestory if it has capped 24,5k words? Oh, well, it will be one.

* * *

**No one home**

**Loivissa POV(two weeks later)  
**Loivissa sat comfortably in her steel armour with Aiedail sheathed at her side on the saddle of Adûn, who in turn was perched atop the stone archway above the opened gates of Terzigno, both were staring down and into the city. The early morning sun's rays warmed their backs as they simply sat there and waited.

Soon enough, the procession that they were waiting for slowly glided through the gate underneath the pair. Mercury led the procession on his white horse, clad in his usual black leather armour with his sword at his back, but without having the hood up or the facemask on.

Directly behind him came four of his Varangian Guards carrying longswords in their belts and shields ready at their sides, before an entire column of regular dökkálfar soldiers followed behind them. Mercury was completely unprotected at the front of the procession without any guards in front of him, if you did not consider the amount of wards that he had woven into his armour, plus the ones that Loivissa had secretly put on him, and then there was the fact that Adûn would be ready to roast any that thought of causing trouble.

Not that such a situation was an all too expected one, as the inhabitants of Terzigno had nearly all come out to line the road from the gate to the town centre to watch the procession, and Mercury in particular, in order to cheer at it.

If Loivissa had to be completely honest, she would not have thought of the Mercury down there as either a king or some hero. She did not question who or what he was, but merely noted the fact that as he passed by the crowd, she thought that he looked more like an assassin caught in the open than the leader of an army, let alone a state.

It was his clothes that did the trick, as Loivissa had actually thought him to look majestic when he had been crowned, but now she no longer thought that he had quite the same aura around him. The observation only reinforced her belief that if not recognized as himself, Mercury would be able to pass as a simple commoner or a high noble if he simply changed his clothes to fit the occasion. The observation gave her an idea to an experiment where they were to dress up a simple farmer and have him act like a noble and then see if anyone would notice, which she believed that Mercury might find amusing.

From her vantage point, she had a clear view to watch the reactions of the people from the moment that they first caught sight of Mercury on his white horse and all the way until he had passed them.

Their first reaction was almost always one of curiosity, which Loivissa attributed to the many rumours about Mercury that had to circulate by now, and when Mercury finally came close enough that it was considered rude to continue staring in silence, they almost always tried to yell something at him or throw something innocent, like a flower or the occasional handkerchief, to him in order to catch his attention and perhaps be noticed by him.

Loivissa noted that it was only the young women that did the latter, which she did not find that surprising now that she thought about it.

Mercury was the first human-like monarch in these isles since King Palancar, but unlike all the previous monarchs, he was not under the thumb of the lethrblaka but was rather winning the war against them. Besides these facts, it was also well known that he was neither married nor otherwise betrothed, so it really was no wonder that so many young women tried to catch his gaze. Who would not want to become a queen after all?

Although Loivissa knew that she could not lay claim to him even in the slightest, she still felt a pang of irritation at seeing so many try to woo him. They did not understand him, could not see past even the outermost layer of his masks and were only interested in the status that came with him.

_No need to scowl dear, Mercury already knows this_, Adûn tried to soothe the scowl that had unknowingly found its way to Loivissa's features, _and if you are still nervous, then just imagine what were to happen if Mercury and the female two-legs ever got to be alone for an extended period of time_.

At first, Loivissa scowled at the thought of what one of these human females were to do if left alone in a tent with Mercury, but when she could not imagine Mercury doing anything but plainly sitting down at a desk and start working, or in the more amusing cases where he would begin toying with their heads out of sheer boredom, the scowl was slowly replaced by a slight smile.

_You are right, they would likely run screaming out of there after a few hours_, Loivissa agreed with her eternal partner-of-heart-and-mind.

It was not that Loivissa believed Mercury to be incapable of developing such a 'relationship' with someone, as she knew that he had at least done so with Elva previously, but it was more the fact that she strongly believed that Mercury was not one to be completely smitten at just a first glance or talk.

In that aspect, he was a lot more like the elves that Loivissa knew from her grandmother's court than he was like the less emotionally guarded humans. Briefly, Loivissa wondered what it would take for Mercury to ever develop such a relationship, but she soon shook her head in disbelief that such thoughts had even found themselves inside of it.

_I need a drink_, Loivissa mused as she returned her attention to the procession of columns of dökkálfar soldiers walking straight through the gate without any attempts at stopping them or anything.

_You will have one soon enough, dear_, Adûn assured her without commenting at the direction that her thoughts had taken before, which Loivissa was extremely grateful for.

It had taken everyone by surprise when they had reached Ottaviano five days ago, only to find the city walls completely empty. Mercury had suspected a ruse, but after the human city elders had ridden out to negotiate their surrender, everything had both become much clearer and much more confusing at the same time.

The reason for their unconditional surrender and the lack of any guards on the walls had been that not only had the ra'zac ordered every soldier and town watchman north, but they had even gone so far as to conscript even more able-bodied men that had never before carried arms, before they had simply left the city and ordered them to fight Mercury's approaching army with everything that they got.

Naturally, what was left of the citizens had been less than inclined to adhere to this order when all of their usual guards and many others had already been taken from them and when considering that Mercury's army already had quite the reputation of being neigh unstoppable, so after the ra'zac and lethrblaka had left, they had agreed to surrender immediately to avoid further unnecessary death and then hope that Mercury would be the one to come out on top, as their actions would surely be punished severely if he lost the war.

Since the city had not required having its order restored and for the populace to become compliant, Mercury had only spent a single day in the city to regroup, before he had divided up his army in two equal parts and sent the other part west to take Ercolano.

Kilgharrah had agreed to go with the other army, although Loivissa had never been informed of what exactly had convinced him to go. The conversation between Mercury and Kilgharrah had been a private one, and she had not asked about it again after Mercury had brushed her initial inquiries on the subject aside by stating that it was not important.

After the two halves had separated, Mercury's half had marched north to take Terzigno while Kilgharrah's half had marched west. Only three days into their march, a messenger from Terzigno had arrived and told Mercury that the city was willing to surrender unconditionally if he simply promised not to hurt or pillage them. The reasons for this decision were the same as for Ottaviano.

Naturally, Mercury had easily given those promises and it had been decided that he would enter the city parade-style as a grand finale to the annual week-long festivities that would come to a conclusion later this night. From the report that Mercury had received late last night, Kilgharrah's half had encountered an almost identical situation and had taken the liberty of doing the exact same thing as Mercury had done.

And that was how Loivissa had found herself sitting atop Adûn above the portcullis as the columns of dökkálfar soldiers continued to march through underneath. Below her, Loivissa could see all of the newcomers, which had either already had Mercury pass by them further inward and then chosen to come here, or who had not made it out until now, stare up at her with the same mixture of awe and fear that she had seen all day.

Although it was not surprising that they did so, considering the mighty creature that she rode on, the steel armour and exotic sword that she wore, her natural grace and beauty as mostly an elf, and then the fact that she was a woman and that women in human societies were not typically seen as warriors, she still found the constant ogling slightly intimidating.

Adûn sensed her irritation at the stares and without warning her, he directed his gaze solely upon the group, barred his teeth in what could almost have been called a draconic smile and spread his wings to make him look nearly twice as big, which was quite impressive.

All of the citizens quickly began to leave for various reasons, and although Loivissa believed that Adûn's actions had been exaggerated, she could not deny the fact that they were effective.

_How long are we supposed to stay here anyway?_, Adûn questioned with boredom in his voice as he tucked his wings back in again.

_Until the procession reaches the parade grounds_, Loivissa answered with an only slightly less bored tone than Adûn.

_Hmrpfh, why are they taking so long then?_, Adûn inquired, _I can almost see the place from here, and yet they have not reached it yet_.

_They have to take some detours through the city to give a better show and improve public opinion_, Loivissa answered bored, before a thought struck her, _you were listening in when we decided this, so why do you ask me anyway?_

_I did not think it important enough for one such as I to remember every little conversation between two-legs_, Adûn huffed.

_You forgot!_, Loivissa accused amused.

_I did not. I merely chose not to remember it_, Adûn defended himself.

_However you try to put it, I will still maintain that you forgot it_, Loivissa said giggling, _getting old, are we?_

_Look who is talking_, Adûn huffed, _I did not come out of my shell until you were 26 years old, so who is really the old one here, hmm?_

_Are you saying that I am old?_, Loivissa inquired sharply.

_I do not know, are you?_, Adûn answered smugly, _I mean, by two-leg standards, you are practically ancient, and if you were a short-two-leg, then you would be considered as quite old but not yet truly above their usual lifespan, but if we compare to two-leg-pointy-ears, then you would still be considered youthful_.

_I get it, I get it_, Loivissa said exasperated, _can I never get just one victory over you?_

_No_, Adûn said prideful, _I am a dragon and therefore have superior mental acuities than all kinds of two-legs_.

_Remind me to point you towards Mercury the next time either of you feel bored and want to try messing with someone's head_, Loivissa grumbled, _I am sure that you both would enjoy it_.

_What is that supposed to mean?_, Adûn questioned, but before Loivissa had a chance to answer it, not that she would have, a presence requested entrance to her mind, and after quickly recognizing the presence as that of Hljödhr, her usual go-between, she let him in.

_We are nearing the parade grounds_, he said stoically, and after a quick confirmation from Loivissa, he cut off the connection without another word.

_Finally!_, Adûn exclaimed as he prepared to fly.

Soon enough, Adûn took off from the portcullis and glided above the city towards the parade grounds in the centre of it. From this height, they could clearly see how the line of soldiers snaked their way in and out of various streets and cleared marketplaces until it finally was about to reach the main plaza in the centre.

Adûn knew that he was not supposed to land in the plaza until Mercury at least had reached it, so he chose to glide in circles above the plaza until Mercury finally arrived instead. Occasionally, he would let loose a torrent of sea-blue flames to the amazement of the crowd gathered in the plaza…well, they were amazed after they had figured out that he was not about to burn down their city.

When Mercury finally reached the centre plaza and had begun getting down from his saddle, Adûn angled his wings and started his descent so that he would land almost next to Mercury. The effect was instant, as the crowd went wild when Adûn' massive form landed not two metres from Mercury without him batting an eye or seeming the least bit concerned that he might have been crushed, although his horse seemed quite a bit more spooked at the sudden arrival.

After receiving a silent signal from Mercury, Loivissa quickly scampered down from Adûn's back and went to take her place at his side, before they both went to meet the elders of the city that had gathered in front of them in the plaza.

When the pair reached the elders, they stopped right in front of them, and one by one, the elders slowly bent down on their knees from left to right, before they in unison formally said, "we, the representatives of the inhabitants of Terzigno, hereby surrender our city and its people to your authority as the one true king of Damocles".

"I accept your surrender and hereby promise to do my utmost to ensure the safety of all of my subjects, regardless of wealth, gender and race", Mercury equally formally said as he let his gaze travel across the kneeling bunch, "now, rise and never again bow down to an authority not of my own".

The elders quickly did as they were told, before Mercury once again turned towards the crowd that waited with baited breath, to which he loudly declared, "I believe that your annual spring festivities is about to come to an end, so as my first act as your new king, let me hereby declare the last banquet of the Floral Festival for open!"

Not long after, several tables were brought in and filled with foods and drinks, while paper lanterns were being hung in long rows on strings from the houses at one end of the plaza to the other. Neither the decorations nor the food and drinks were as fancy as those that had been there at the coronation, but they all had a more down-to-earth charm over them that somehow made the entire party appear much friendlier and homely.

Everyone, from the very old to the very young ones, helped with setting up what needed to be set up, some in their own little ways. Despite the scale of the city, which Loivissa guessed to be around the size of Ilirea, everyone seemed friendly and open to each other tonight, even though most of them hardly had a chance to know half of whom they met beforehand.

You could see that each of the paper lanterns had been decorated by the children of the city especially for this night, and the self-serving barrels of ale, mead and whatnot were much less stiff and upscale than having a number of servants run around and constantly offer drinks.

The dökkálfar had wanted to help too, and after a bit of hesitation on the citizens' part, they had eventually been directed towards some of the more physically challenging tasks, which they performed easily and quickly to the amazement of many a citizen.

Mercury had at first been confused as to whether he should or should not help with setting up the festivities, which Loivissa could understand as everyone else also seemed to be rather hesitant in giving him something to do or even making it look like there was something that he could do. Basically, it all came down to the confusion on everyone's part, Mercury included, that people simply did not know what was expected from Mercury as the new king.

And if they thought so of Mercury, then they even more so thought it of Loivissa, who was still looked upon as if she was some ethereal being that had descended down unto the earth. Eventually though, Mercury had managed to spot that the wooden framework for a massive tent that was supposed to be set up but that no one had gotten to yet, and he had subsequently walked over there, pulled off his cloak and most of his other warmer and heavier equipment, snatched a hammer and some nails and set to work before anyone had a chance to take over for him.

Loivissa had soon copied his actions and shed her steel armour, though not the travel armour or her wards, as she knew that Mercury also had not let his wards go, before she had begun to help him. Strangely enough, no one else dared to begin working on the tent that Loivissa and Mercury were working on, so they dubbed it their little project and resolved to finish it completely on their own, albeit with the occasional help of Adûn.

As the hours went by and Mercury and Loivissa began to get into more and more heated arguments about what was supposed to go where and what it was even supposed to look like in the end, which Loivissa still firmly believed that her suggestions had been the best of the two, the other more experienced citizens eventually decided to take pity on the pair and helped them turn it into what it was supposed to be.

After that final tent had been raised, the party was ready to actually begin.

Since Mercury had given all but a skeleton crew the night off, there was plenty of time and opportunity for the dökkálfar and humans to slowly get to know one another. The language barrier that existed for all but a few dökkálfar somehow did not seem to hinder this process, as Loivissa had seen multiple groups of mixed races somehow managing to all be laughing at something or contesting in a number of sports, despite not understanding each other's language.

Loivissa herself had stuck close to Mercury throughout most of the night, especially after Adûn had begun drinking and drunkenly declared that the next time he saw her, he would snatch her up and nuzzle her and never let her go again.

Mercury on the other hand had hardly been drinking anything all night, despite always having a drink in his hand, and Loivissa sometimes caught him critically eying the drink in his hand to check how much was still left in it. It was strange, as Loivissa did not remember that he had been quite that withholding during his coronation party, but then again, there were large chunks of that night that she did not remember.

Loivissa would almost say that she was the intermediary between Mercury's withholding nature and Adûn's nature to go all out, as she would not say that she was drunk, but neither could she deny that she was not at least slightly inebriated.

Right now, Mercury was in the middle of a conversation with an old woman with grey hair, wrinkled skin and an overall feeling about her that she had lived her life and knew and accepted that her death would be coming sometime soon.

"Oh, so she did end up with that boy after all?", Mercury asked seemingly amused.

"Yes, and they had my eldest brother the following winter", the old woman confirmed with a nostalgic look on her face.

"…oh, well things like that do tend to happen", Mercury said surprised, before he tried to divert the subject slightly, "did she ever take him on that trip up the volcano-river?"

"Yes, I think that I remember her doing so, but I was only a little girl at the time", the old woman reminisced, "I believe it would be about…four years after I was born…yes that must have been it, because my little sister was born the year after. Oh, and about that river; did you know that it used to be the main trading link between the three cities surrounding Rushno?"

"No, when was this? It had to be before the highway was made?", Mercury inquired seemingly intrigued.

"Yes, I believe that my grandmother told me that her grandmother's grandfather used to be a ferryman on the river, and that it was the primary way of transporting heavy goods between the cities", the old woman said, "that is, until the highway was built. Now it is only used to transport things too heavy for the road and by young couples wishing to share a romantic trip".

It was actually an amusing story as to how the two had fallen into conversation. Mercury had initially mistaken the old woman for her mother, which he had apparently briefly met and helped in her pursuit of the old woman's father during this exact same event some 65 years ago, but after having called her by her mother's name, the old woman had surprised him by saying that she was actually the daughter of the one that Mercury thought that she was.

That had then led to the two reminiscing on what had happened afterwards, and although Loivissa knew that she would probably be just as bad if she met one of her old human friends that had since turned old and grey, she could not help but giggle at her mental picture of Mercury as an old wrinkled man talking about the old days with the other elderly.

It was part of the price of not aging; you would have to watch all the of the mortal friends that you had made slowly age and die while you remained as youthful as ever. It did not bother the elves in Du Weldenvarden sine no one aged there, but in order for an elf or a dragon rider to live among the mortal races, you had to come to terms with this inescapable truth.

Loivissa had more than a few friends from the mortal races that had become dragon riders and subsequently had a hard time accepting it, and she knew that more than a few dragon riders specifically chose not to befriend mortals because they feared the loss that would inevitably come.

Loivissa herself had been subject to the same problem during her time as caretaker of Eregion, especially with the Mataou family, but she had eventually learned to simply accept it and enjoy the time that she had with them.

"What are you laughing at?", Mercury suddenly inquired and tore Loivissa from her musings, with the old woman now somehow gone.

"Nothing, just imagining you all old, grey and wrinkled", Loivissa continued to giggle at the mental picture.

Mercury blinked, then looked down at himself, before he returned his gaze to meet hers and asked, "how much have you had to drink?"

"Not enough to impair my judgement", Loivissa pouted at his accusations, "besides, it is not nearly as much as either of us had during the coronation".

She saw Mercury tense for a moment at the comparison, before he forced relaxation into his body once again and countered, "…yes, I would not advise something like that to happen again during active wartime".

Ever since their argument two weeks ago, Loivissa had known that there were things, which involved her that Mercury kept from her, but she had not been able to corner him about it so far. Now, with the casual mentioning of the coronation, she was almost certain that something had happened during it, something that Mercury remembered but that she did not.

Without anyone's notice, Loivissa managed to drag Mercury out of sight, where she turned to face him and determinedly said, "Mercury, I want to know what it is that you are not telling me".

"If I told you everything that I thought of, I believe that there would not be enough hours in the day to accommodate my speech", Mercury tried to evade her demand.

"You know what I mean", Loivissa growled, "I want to know what you remember happened at the coronation but that I do not".

"Let us not ruin the evening by discussing that", Mercury continued to try to evade her, before he tried a different tactic, "what if I promise to tell you what you believe that I am hiding from you after we meet with the Supreme Commander in Kalt?"

"So something did happen?!", Loivissa piqued up. Until now, she had only guessed, but now she knew for sure that something had happened.

"I never specifically said that", Mercury countered.

Loivissa would have hit him, she really would have, if not for the dökkálfar soldier from the skeleton crew that had somehow managed to find them.

"_The Colonials have landed!_", he shouted at the surprised pair.

"Bloody hell", Mercury cursed as he pushed past Loivissa and towards the messenger, "_tell me everything that you know_".

And once again, Loivissa was left without an answer to her questions, and in the back of her mind, she began to wonder whether some unknown entity purposely made sure that she would never know.

* * *

That would be me!


	28. Change of plans

**Change of plans**

**Mercury POV  
**"Bloody hell", Mercury cursed as he pushed past Loivissa and towards the messenger, "_tell me everything that you know_".

The messenger quickly fell into step beside Mercury as they proceeded out towards their camp, while Loivissa followed after them after a little while had passed.

"_Word just came in from one of the scouting groups of the Winterborn navy_", the messenger explained while walking, "_they were initially surprised at the large number of ships crowding the waters of Kalt, and when they sent a scouting party inland to investigate, the party spotted the campsite of a massive army. They believe it to easily be above 100.000 strong, but from their reports, an estimated 60.000 of those bear the standard that they were told to look out for, the standard of the colonial forces_".

"_Since it is the Winterborn navy that discovered it, I have to assume that the Supreme Commander already knows of this_", Mercury reasoned outwardly calmly, but inwards, he was cringing at the news, "_make sure that word of this has gotten to Vollar Reklian in Ercolano immediately, and tell him that I want him to contact me as soon as possible through scrying mirror. After that, you are to make the same request to the Supreme Commander, and then you can discreetly and quietly begin alerting my other advisors to the situation and tell them that I expect them to be sober for a meeting with me early tomorrow morning_".

"_Yes, at once your highness_", the messenger said and parted ways with Mercury and Loivissa.

"Why are you so agitated about this?", Loivissa questioned Mercury after she had caught up with him again.

"_Not out loud until we reach the tent_", Mercury hushed her, as he wanted to make sure that the spreading of this information was done in as proper a way as could be done.

He soon after felt her request entrance to his mind, and although he was still wary of granting it to her at the moment, who knew what else she might unintentionally discover if he slipped, he still gave it to her.

_Now, what is with all of this cloak and dagger stuff?_, Loivissa demanded mentally.

_The flow of information can be the key between despair and success_, Mercury answered, _as such, it might create problems for morale if news of this was leaked to the general soldiers before our counterplan is ready_.

_Why the need for such secrecy? I mean, yes, it is a formidable force, but we have beaten them at every encounter we have had with them without problem_, Loivissa questioned curiously.

_The Ra'zac Empire's armies and navies are typically divided into two categories; the Superiors and the Colonials_, Mercury started to explain, _recently, the Superiors' armies and navies have almost exclusively been entrenched in Alagaësia, while the Colonials' have been busy keeping the colonies in check_.

_If that is true, then what have we been fighting so far?_, Loivissa asked with a nervousness to her voice.

_Conscripts_, Mercury stated bluntly, _farmers, fishermen, carpenters, city guards and pretty much everyone else that they could spare have been given a weapon, perhaps a little armour, and a few weeks of formal training at the most, before they are then sent into battle. The Colonials that we are now facing are not of the same stock as the ones that we have been fighting until now. They are better trained, better equipped, have a far higher morale and they are battle-hardened veterans_.

"Barzul!", Loivissa cursed out loud, before remembering the watchful eyes that were drawn to her outburst and mentally apologized, _sorry, I could not control myself_.

_It is alright, none of them will understand what you said or why you said it anyway_, Mercury shrugged it off, _but yes, this is indeed an ill fate for our expedition, and one that I wished that we did not need to contend with for another while_.

_You did not count on the Colonials' coming?_, Loivissa asked confused.

_We did, but we hoped that we would have full control over the isles by then and that we would be able to break them during the subsequent amphibious assault, which would have made it much easier_, Mercury reasoned, _in fact, a part of our strategy revolved around not giving the Ra'zac Empire reason to call for aid until it was too late, because they would deem me manageable. As I have mentioned earlier; I was only able to get the dökkálfar to help because they did not believe that they would have to face the professional armies during the conquest campaign_.

_Why are the dökkálfar so afraid of the Ra'zac Empire's professional armies anyway? They are clearly better fighters and mages than them_, Loivissa questioned confused just as Mercury moved past the Varangian guards guarding his tent.

Once safely inside and away from prying ears, Mercury answered vocally instead of mentally, "until now, the only safe strategy that the dökkálfar have been able to use against the invasion attempts of the Ra'zac Empire has been to run and hide in the countryside, while constantly making small ambushes and skirmishes against the Ra'zac Empire's forces until they grew tired enough of the constant pricking and pinching that they simply abandoned the attempt to continue their stay and left, so it is understandable that they would be pensive about meeting their professional armies in open battle".

"So what are we going to do now then?", Loivissa questioned as Mercury noticed that she did not flop down on the bed as usual, but rather kept standing beside his desk, which he was now standing behind.

Instead of answering immediately, Mercury procured maps detailing the area surrounding Rushno, the area from Olobobos to Irisweld and the area from Olobobos to Middelfart, after which he emptied his desk of everything but the enchanted mirror and spread the maps out over it.

He quickly became so engrossed in estimating travel times between segments for both dökkálfar and human armies, studying the geography of the areas, pondering on the supplies of the areas and so on that he forgot to answer Loivissa's question and completely overheard her repeated attempts at verbally contacting him, as well as the mirror sporting the image of Vollar of the other army that had been delivered to his tent and then had to be directed by Loivissa where to stand.

There were so many scenarios to consider. Was he still their main target or had the plan already fallen apart? How soon could he expect an attack if they did end up attacking him? Was capturing Irisweld and stripping it of its supplies in order to deny them to the enemy a viable option or would it take too much time and too many resources? Could he even hope to meet them in combat now or would it be better to slowly fall back east and use a scorched earth tactic, and how would his later public approval rating be affected if he did any of these things?

How callous could he allow himself to be without being perceived as a tyrant, and almost just as important, how much could he get away with in the name of necessity before Loivissa had had enough? The latter part both confused and irritated Mercury greatly.

He did not know when exactly it had happened, probably slowly over time and without his notice, but he did know that recently, he had begun measuring what actions he could allow himself to make based on how repulsed Loivissa would be with them.

On one hand, Mercury knew that it was actually sort of good to have a moral compass to guide his own actions with in order to not become too callous, but on the other hand, the possibilities that it denied sometimes would be quite effective, and though Mercury would never actually do most of them unless he was truly cornered, the mere possibility of no longer being able to do them irked him greatly.

Mercury did not understand why she had this…power…over his choices. It should not be there, he had never allowed it to be there. It was part of the reason why he had continued to keep what happened that night from Loivissa, although that now seemed to begin to backfire as well, just as Kilgharrah had said that it would.

Damn dragon, why was he right about this?! No, Mercury could not allow him to be completely right, or find out about it anyway. He would never live it down if the damn dragon discovered that he had been right. Kilgharrah still teased him about his miscalculation of when to enter The Northern Wastes 2 decades ago, so if he ever found out that he had been right about this, then he would have material for another century.

Was that why Kilgharrah had so easily agreed to go with the other army? Because he knew that Loivissa would begin to find out about it? No, trying to actively damage his relationship with Loivissa was not something that Kilgharrah would do. He would tease and irritate it, sure, but never try to damage it.

But then why had he agreed so easily to go..?

_Mercury!_, came Loivissa's voice high pitched and unexpected inside his head.

"Hmm? Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. What did you say?", Mercury asked confused as he came out of his musings. He had forgotten that they had never separated their mental contact and was simply happy that he always had his musings on a much lower plane of his mind.

"_She was trying to tell you that everyone were gathered_", came the voice of the Supreme Commander, who had accurately guessed what was being said, from the enchanted mirror on Mercury's desk.

"_Again, my apologies for the delay. I was deep in my musings_", Mercury apologized, "_can I assume that everyone are up to speed on the current situation?_"

"_It was ships under my direct control that discovered them, so I would believe that it should be I that asked the question_", the Supreme Commander said with a raised eyebrow.

"_Your apprentice brought me up to speed while we waited_", came Vollar's more moderate response.

"_Good, then the only subject that needs to be addressed is our immediate response to this development_", Mercury summarized.

"_I do not see how anything has happened to change our overall strategy_", the Supreme Commander simply said.

"_And you are sure of this?_", Mercury needed to be sure about it.

"_The taking of Middelfart went as planned. I do not make mistakes on my part_", the Supreme Commander huffed.

"_Which means that they will target me then_", Mercury reasoned.

"_How can you two be so sure of what will happen? I believe that we have a right to know what you are not telling us, now that we are facing an enemy that we did not plan on engaging before we were in a better position_", Vollar demanded after having swept his head from side to side to follow what apparently went on between the two.

"_How we know what we know is not as important right now as what to do with this knowledge_", Mercury quickly tried to defuse the situation, "_since it is fairly certain that my army will be its target, I can safely say that they have likely fortified Irisweld to use it as an advance and fall back point, which means that it would be a waste of precious time and resources to try and take it to deny its supplies to the enemy. Furthermore, I do not believe that I can hold both Terzigno and Ercolano with my limited forces, and only holding one of them enables the enemy to go around us_".

"_I agree, with the forces at our disposal, it would be best to retreat for the moment_", Vollar agreed, "_if we can lead the enemy on a wild goose chase through the landscape, then the Supreme Commander's army should be able to swoop in and take all the cities that we leave behind and eventually join us in a two front attack on the enemy army_".

"_A prudent strategy, and one that the dökkálfar are familiar with_", Mercury commented, "_but it is also one that the Ra'zac Empire knows of and we risk not only that they redirect their attention northwards, but also the ire of the general population that we leave to fend for themselves with our retreat. Many of them know that their complacency with us would result in severe punishments if the Ra'zac Empire comes back in control of their region, and I am sure that they would not be soon to forgive, even if we eventually won, and that might pose a problem for the later stabilization_".

"_Then what strategy do you propose then?_", the Supreme Commander asked more intrigued than nervous or irritated at the usual strategy's rejection.

"_I advance_", Mercury stated quite simply, "_I have been considering the landscape of Rushno and its surrounding areas, as well as the approximated distances between yourself and my position, and I believe that if I move about half of my army towards the slopes just south of the intersection, while letting a fourth fall back to Ottaviano and the remaining fourth go into hiding in the large forest to the east, then I should be able to hold out against their onslaught until your forces gets here to hit them in the back. It of course needs no saying that Tel Betri for the time being will be left to its own devices in the interest of speed and keeping your army united_".

"_Explain upon how you intend to keep them locked down without being overrun or simply bypassed_", the Supreme Commander ordered.

"_The fourth that takes hiding in the woods would easily be able to deal with any enemy coming their way, even if they all do, because moving such a large army requires it to be spread out and with the forest so close to the road, they will easily be able to quickly make surprise attacks, where they cut off sections of the enemy and annihilate them before retreating_", Mercury explained, the idea was actually one that he originally had gotten from the battle of Teutoburg Forest, before he continued, "_I believe that when my siege engines from Hydronium arrive, which they should well in advance of the enemy, considering that they have at least the better part of a month's marching time if they moved immediately, then I will be able to hold the main enemy force back on the slopes of Rushno with them and the fortifications that I will have built in the meantime, while the fourth that I will send back to Ottaviano will act as both a stopper for the small forces that may go westwards around Rushno, as well as being my primary reinforcement and resting point for the battle-weary men that are replaced from the front_".

"_How will these troop movements between Ottaviano and your front work, and how would supplies be transported to your front?_", the Supreme Commander pointed out issues that were not detailed upon yet, "_you should know that even if I try to hurry as much as I can, then you could easily have to hold them off for at least a month_".

"_I did not choose the general location at random_", Mercury huffed, "_the part of the old transport rivers that runs down the slopes of Rushno and towards Terzigno will be to my right side when facing north, so all I need to do is to use this to transport men and goods to and from the front_".

"_And what do you intend to do with Terzigno and Ercolano? We cannot allow their supplies to be used by the enemy_", the Supreme Commander inquired.

"_Tomorrow, I will make the situation clear to the citizens of Terzigno and tell them that all wishing to seek safety further westwards will be given supplies from the city storage to do so, as well as a small escort, but that I will be taking the remaining supplies with me and that no guards will be left in the city. I expect the same to be done at Ercolano_", as Mercury said the latter part, he directed his gaze at Vollar, who nodded in compliance, before Mercury continued, "_I doubt that many will choose to remain to wait for the approaching vengeful ra'zac, so if the enemy forces reaches the cities, they will see nothing but broken gates, and I expect all of them to be broken beyond immediate repair, Vollar, as well as a ghost town without anything of value to them at the moment_".

"_That seems to be all that there is to discuss then_", the Supreme Commander said with a nod in a clear indication to end this meeting, "_I wish you all the best of luck, and that our enemies be sent to the deepest of the watery hells_", before he punched his chest and cut off the connection.

Vollar quickly took his leave as well, leaving only Loivissa and Mercury behind in the relative darkness of the tent.

"You know that you are breaking your promise to them, after only making it earlier today no less", Loivissa's voice said from beside Mercury, as he leaned over the table with the maps.

"I told them that I would protect my subjects from harm to the best of my abilities, not necessarily their property", Mercury answered, "they will all still have the choice of leaving temporarily to ensure their own safety or to stay behind and risk death".

The decision to take this specific route of events had mostly been made because Mercury believed that Loivissa would understand the necessity of the situation, and judging by the fact that her voice was neither accusatory nor angry, it seemed that she did.

Mercury let out a long sigh and once again rubbed his conscious against that nice soft relatively peaceful spot that he had suddenly discovered during the meeting. It was not often that Mercury discovered such places of peace within his mind, but the timing of this one could not have been better, as it had been a rather stressful evening.

"Ahem, what about the people north of Rushno?", Loivissa cleared her throat and asked.

"Hmm? Oh yes, you are right, I will have to organize some scouting parties to go north and either buy or destroy the crops there", Mercury remembered after shaking himself for becoming too engrossed in the relatively peaceful spot.

Although it was dark in the tent, as there were only a few lit candles to help illuminate the maps on the desk, Mercury's eyes had no trouble seeing in the dark, which he guessed to be the same with Loivissa's elven ones.

That was why Mercury was confused when he turned his head to look at her and found her to be staring in a completely different direction from where he stood, especially since it would be quite obvious to anyone not deaf where he had been during the meeting.

"Is something the matter Loivissa?", Mercury inquired curiously concerned, as it did not seem like her to avoid his gaze so completely.

"No, nothing is wrong", Loivissa said too quickly for it to be true, "but should you really be taking the destruction of entire villages' livelihood as casual as you are? I mean, who knows how many will have to starve because their crops are gone?"

_So it has something to do with what happened at Tel Noach then?_, Mercury mused, before he tried to explain, "it is not something that I enjoy doing, but if I did not, then the enemy's supply trains would be shorter and they would be more inclined to simply circumvent my position all together. I guess that you could say that the scorched earth tactic is like trying to starve your enemy into submission, but it is unfortunately also an effective strategy when facing a superior foe".

"I do understand, and I know that you would not do so if there was a better alternative to it", Loivissa said understandingly, but still facing away from him.

At this point, Mercury was almost completely unsure of what was the matter, as it clearly had not been that issue, and right now, he really wished that she would just tell him as he was sure that Adûn would have a long time ago.

In his uncertainty, he rubbed against the peaceful spot extra hard, as it acted as a very good stress relief and he was unsure of when it would be completely engulfed in the rest of his mind once again, as all previous peaceful spots had been over time and use.

Loivissa elicited an unexpected yelp and in his surprise at the rather strange action, which he was beginning to attribute to something that Adûn might do to her in his drunken state, he laid his hand on her chin and slowly forced her to face him.

When she did, he found her cheeks to be beet red from what Mercury guessed to be a blush and she could not even keep the smallest amount of eye contact with him, instead choosing to look down at the ground, which seriously made him question what on earth Adûn was doing.

"Do I need to know something or is it too private?", Mercury questioned as he kept looking at her, despite her not looking back at him.

"N- no, I would rather not tell", Loivissa managed to say while still avoiding eye contact.

"Okay, then go back to your tent and sort this out in private", Mercury advised and released her from his hold, "we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so make sure to get plenty of rest and for Adûn to at least stop drinking if he has not already".

"Y- yes, goodnight", Loivissa said strangely timid as she quickly exited the tent again.

"It is probably best that I do not know", Mercury muttered to himself after she had left, "now where did that spot go? They never usually disappear that quickly".

* * *

So, at least we now know where those ships from chapter 14 went.


	29. From Rushno with haste

**From Rushno with haste**

**Loivissa POV(10 days later)  
**It had been 10 days since the party and since they had had to change their plans. Mercury had held an early morning meeting the next day to explain his new strategy to his officers, after which he had called for a gathering of both the citizens of Terzigno and his army.

During that gathering, he had explained that the Ra'zac Empire's colonial forces had arrived, and that he intended to go forward and meet them in battle, but that he could not guarantee that a splinter-section of their army would not go around him and attack Terzigno while he was gone, so he recommended that people start evacuating west.

He had also laid out that there would be escort groups to those wishing to leave westward, as well as supplies from the storages, but that he would need the remaining supplies to be brought to the frontline.

Although there was some grumbling on the matter, almost every citizen eventually decided to flee to safety, rather than stay and face the unbridled wrath of the Ra'zac Empire. The fact that the general populace believed that Mercury was advancing to meet the enemy head on to safeguard them, rather than stay safe behind the walls of Terzigno, had made them less accusatory of Mercury's leaving them.

Currently, Loivissa and Mercury were walking side by side on the northern slopes of Rushno, where Mercury's forces were in the midst of digging themselves in, while Adûn and Kilgharrah were away on scouting missions until sundown. Palisade walls were being erected, moats and pit falls dug, the river running to Terzigno was in the process of being diverted, wells were being made to act as reservoirs, the siege engines were being dug in and adjusted to fire accurately and made to easily know how far away their target was, as well as many more projects that were all designed to give the defenders a fighting chance.

It was their luck, or providence on Mercury's part, Loivissa never was quite sure which one covered it best, that the dökkálfar had gotten some experience on how to erect such fortifications during their siege of Tel Noach.

The experiences made there made the work go much quicker and much more efficiently, which they desperately needed in order to finish before the enemy army arrived, which had been spotted starting their march south from Kalt just yesterday.

"Are you paying attention Loivissa?", Mercury suddenly asked from beside her.

"Yes, you were talking about how the construction of the new riverbed was being slowed down because of a layer of solid rock in the way", Loivissa tried excusing herself. In truth, that was the last bit she remembered before she had let her mind wander.

"That was 15 minutes ago", Mercury corrected her, "what has been on your mind lately? You have seemed unusually distracted since Terzigno".

"Nothing, just thinking about all that has happened until now", Loivissa told part of the truth.

The other part of her distraction was something that she would rather that Mercury did not know about, especially since he apparently had not discovered it himself yet. After entering the tent the night of the meeting, Mercury had not requested her exodus of his mind, which he usually did after there was no longer any need for such intimate contact, and Loivissa had taken it as a sign that he wished to be able to discuss something with her during the meeting without the others' awareness.

That belief had been shattered when she had had to wake him mentally and feel the surprise at her presence in his mind flicker through it, which she had later attributed to him forgetting her presence, an unusual occurrence for someone like Mercury.

Yet even after she had shaken him awake, he had still not requested her to leave, although Loivissa had by then discovered that it was because he had once again forgotten that she was in there. Despite knowing that it would probably have been rude not to leave when she was no longer invited, Loivissa's strange curiosity at staying inside his head for a little bit longer had won out over her manners.

It was the wish of hers to better understand the workings of Mercury's mind, even when all she could observe was the outermost layer, which ultimately made her stay. What she had not expected was what had happened during and after the meeting.

She had immediately known when Mercury's mind had discovered her presence, but the immediate response on Mercury's part had not been the admonishing and expulsion that she had expected. What had instead happened was that his mind had begun to tentatively prod and surround her conscious.

Just when she expected that he was preparing an attack, he had instead started rubbing his mind against hers in a most inappropriate manner. Over the next half an hour of the meeting, he had been continuously smothering her consciousness and using it as some sort of squeezing toy.

At first, Loivissa had thought that it was something that he was knowingly doing, but she had soon realized that he in fact had not known that it was her conscious that he was so intimately rubbing his own against, which had much later begged the question of why exactly he had not found her presence inside his mind strange.

In the moment however, Loivissa had had other concerns, such as whether she should pull out or if Mercury would have discovered what had happened if she did. In the end, she had decided to stay until she could exit the tent and Mercury's point of view, although if she was completely honest with herself, her decision might have been a small tiny puny fraction of a bit influenced by how nice the contact had actually felt.

In a strange way that Loivissa had never felt before, it had felt nice to know when Mercury found something irritating or stressful and then to be leaned against for support, even if it had been unknowingly on his part.

It had been alright while the meeting was still underway, as no one had paid any attention to her increasingly growing blush, but after the meeting had ended and Mercury had discovered that something was wrong, all she could think of was to get away from his view without causing too much of a stir, so that she could safely pull out.

She had not mentioned the incident since then, not even to Adûn, whom she would have shared anything but this with, and especially not to the still oblivious Mercury. As a result of trying to keep this secret of her own, she had also stopped pressing on what Mercury's secret about her was. Somehow, it seemed fair now that they each had something that they clearly did not want the other to know about.

"Alright, but pay attention from now on then", Mercury said in response to her previous sentence, "as I previously asked; if this war was over right now and we had won, what would you then recommend that we do with the surviving ra'zac and lethrblaka?"

Loivissa stopped to seriously think about it for a moment, to think about all the things that the ra'zac and lethrblaka had done to her family and the peoples of Alagaësia, Damocles and Alalëa for so long now, before she finally answered, "they have committed horrible crimes and will likely never stop hunting humans or conspiring to kill you, so I guess that we have no choice but to hunt them down until they no longer pose a threat to the general population".

"When do they no longer pose a threat?", Mercury asked seemingly intrigued, "when but a handful remain? They would simply repopulate their race and then we would need to hunt them down again, not to mention that they would still prey on humans if we simply let them be when we had reduced their numbers".

"Well, then I suppose that we would have to stop them once and for all then", Loivissa surmised.

"What a nice way to say that we should exterminate their race", Mercury said, though he sounded neither condescending nor approving, "because that is what you were suggesting, right? That we should hunt them down to the last egg and break it?"

When he said it like that, it made Loivissa almost doubt what she had suggested, as she had not considered phrasing it in such a brutal manner, but she still managed to angrily ask Mercury, "so instead we should let them be and continue their reign of terror on everyone? They all deserve to die for what they have done".

"I did not say that I disapproved of your suggestion. I merely asked whether I understood its contents correctly, and whether you knew what you were suggesting", Mercury said seemingly unfazed by her outburst, before he surprisingly asked, "do you hate them?"

"Yes, how could I not?", Loivissa answered surprised that he even had to ask after they had taken gentle Celiste, who had been a loving mother and kind to all, as well as countless others from this world in their sick war.

"Why?", Mercury asked, sounding truly interested in what she would say.

"They are evil creatures that eat and enslave humans, have killed countless innocents and started more wars than I know of simply to satiate their greed", Loivissa proposed her arguments.

"So you hate all humans, elves, dökkálfar and dwarves as well?", Mercury asked intrigued.

"No!?", Loivissa denied confused, "why would you assume so?"

"Well, all but most elves regularly eat the meat of other species without remorse", Mercury reasoned.

"That is not the same", Loivissa argued vehemently.

"The ra'zac and lethrblaka never thought of it as different. They see humans eat meat from a lower tier of the food chain every day and in turn eat the meat of their next chain; the humans", Mercury explained, "but even if we look aside from that, then let us proceed to your other arguments. The humans have enslaved each other and the other species for centuries as well, and all of the known races have been the cause of countless innocents' deaths in meaningless wars that were either started by greed, jealousy or some other obscure reason.

And before you object, then look at the many small wars between dwarves and dragons, Du Fyrn Skulblaka, the wars started by King Palancar against the elves, as well as the many others that have been throughout history".

Loivissa was baffled at his reasoning, and although she could not deny that her arguments were not valid after his examples, she still felt that her cause was just. The ra'zac were evil. Period. They had always been evil and they would always continue being evil, but by now, she had also figured out that Mercury was neither opposing nor supporting her suggestions, merely inquiring upon them, as he apparently wanted her to argue her own case and thereby believe in it more firmly.

_It is just like him to do something like this_, Loivissa thought to herself, as she started to begin searching for new arguments.

"I have one question, actually", Mercury suddenly interrupted her musing.

"What is it?", Loivissa asked wearily, already dreading what she know had to find an explanation for.

"Have you ever actually talked to a ra'zac or a lethrblaka, or do you only know of them through your battles with them and through what you have been told of their history?", Mercury asked deadly serious.

"No one has ever tried to talk to me", Loivissa answered.

"And you have never tried talking to them", Mercury surmised, but quickly defused her hurt look by saying, "do not worry about it, both of you considered each other enemies, so there was never much hope of ever starting such a conversation on somewhat neutral grounds, but what bugs me is that you were willing to condemn an entire race to extinction without first trying to learn as much as you can about that race before making such a decision. What if the race was capable of change with the right motivation?"

"And have you ever talked to any of them then, hmm?", Loivissa inquired sceptically.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I have", Mercury confirmed, "both before this war and during it".

"During it? When?", Loivissa asked surprised.

"When we were back at The Capital", Mercury answered, "I had multiple visits with a rather informative ra'zac inmate that called himself Telcontar. It was most interesting to talk to him".

"Why was I not allowed to go with you, and why even keep this from me", Loivissa questioned sharply.

Mercury stopped his walk and turned to look directly at her, which made Loivissa fidget with the memory of the meeting 10 days ago, before he seriously said, "you hate them. Make no mistake in that I do not judge you for hating them, as it would have been exceptional not to do so after all that have happened to you personally, but it clouds your mind and that could not be allowed to happen near that individual. The reason for this is that though he is locked up, he was still able to do battle with words alone. Doubts were ruthlessly tried exploited, fears were tried inflamed and if you had gone inside, which I knew that you would have insisted on doing if you had known, then you might not have come out the same way you came in".

"Why even risk talking to such a creature?", Loivissa questioned confused at Mercury for putting himself in such risk.

"As I already told you; I prefer to know as much as I can before making such a decision", Mercury simply answered and shrugged before he resumed his walk, "if you ever find any new arguments for or against your proposal, then please tell me of them".

Loivissa nodded and fell into step beside him once again, before a somewhat companionable silence descended upon them. From the sun's position, Loivissa knew that the evening was not far away, and from where Mercury was leading them, she guessed that he knew of this as well.

"The siege engines from Hydronium will arrive in just two days. It will be imperative that they are fine-tuned to the same level as our current ones", Mercury suddenly changed the subject from their previous one.

"Why are you so glad for these siege engines anyway?", Loivissa questioned curiously.

"The siege engines will be the defining key between holding this position and being swarmed", Mercury explained, "I only have a little over 5.000 people to hold off a force of more than 100.000, wherein at least 60.000 are battle-hardened professionals, so I need to be able to funnel the enemy like water to minimize surface exposure to my own troops and to maximize the amount of death and terror that I can bring upon them. Flaming projectiles launched into crowded places are close to the best that I can accomplice in this regard, and siege engines are the best available delivery system".

"But you have Adûn, Kilgharrah and I for that", Loivissa half seriously said, as they neared Mercury's red command tent.

"They will have plenty of weapons to shoot you down, not to mention the lethrblaka that will be there", Mercury said seriously, while nodding to the guards outside his tent and proceeding inside, "I would never ask any of you to take to the air during such conditions".

"I have done so before", Loivissa objected.

"Do not get cocky because of a few incidents", Mercury admonished, as the two sat down on either side of his desk, "this will be nothing like our previous encounters, besides, you will have other matters that require your attention soon enough".

"What other matters?", Loivissa asked confused, but her answer was postponed a bit when a knock sounded and dinner was brought to the two of them, before they were once again left alone inside the tent.

"The Supreme Commander's forces are not advancing as rapidly as we had hoped", Mercury answered, as he picked up his fork and knife and began to cut his chicken, "I would have you and Adûn circle back to The Capital and then due north until you reach the main isle again, before you once again head back west to meet up with the Supreme Commander's forces and aid him in his battles. You are leaving early tomorrow morning".

"I am not leaving you at a time like this!", Loivissa objected firmly, completely forgetting her salad in the process, "how could you even think that I would agree to such a thing?"

"As fierce a warrior as you are, you still cannot do much in the upcoming battle when you and Adûn have to be grounded, but with the Supreme Commander's forces, your presence would have a much larger impact and considerably shorten his travel time", Mercury tried to calmly explain, "and time is of the essence here. The less time that I have to hold off the enemy with my limited forces, the higher the chance of me not being overrun. If you would do this for me, then you would not be lessening my chances of survival, but highly increasing them".

"And you are sure that this is the only reason that you are requesting this of me?", Loivissa demanded to know.

"Heightening my chances of succeeding have always been my main priority", Mercury answered her.

"…Why can Kilgharrah not be the one to go instead then?", Loivissa wished to know.

"There are several reasons for that", Mercury started, "one would be that it would be best to send a dragon AND a rider to speed things up, and since Kilgharrah is unlikely to let anyone there ride him, combined with the fact that I obviously cannot go, sending him would be less effective. Another reason could be that considering Kilgharrah's leniency in these matters in the past, you could say that it was his turn to stay, but the most important reason that I can think of is that I do not believe that I could persuade Kilgharrah to leave before this particular battle no matter how many arguments I gave him to do so".

"But you believe that I would be willing to leave your side at a time like this?", Loivissa asked angrily.

"You are the one that is easier to reason with", Mercury responded simply, "remember; doing this would increase the chances of success".

Loivissa did not say anything for a while. She did not want to leave, she really did not want to do such a thing now of all times, but she could not deny some of Mercury's arguments either. If she was grounded, then she would simply be yet another soldier among thousands, probably the best among them, but still not able to turn the tides on her own.

But if she did decide to go, then her and Adûn would be put to much better use, and it was true that the less time they had to endure holding the enemy there, the higher the chance that they would make it out alive. She could also not deny that from her understanding of Kilgharrah's and Mercury's relationship, it would be foolish to think that Kilgharrah could be persuaded at a time like this.

They may not have been soul-bonded, as Adûn and herself, but they had stood by one another through many hardships and trials, and that meant that their bond was likely almost as close as her own, and she knew that Adûn would never agree to leave her at a time like this, no matter the persuasion. As Mercury had said; she was the one that could best be reasoned with of the two.

"Fine, I will go", Loivissa finally grumblingly conceded, against her own preferences, "but you better not die while I am gone! You hear me? No unnecessary risks or otherwise putting yourself in danger for no good reason".

"I have no intention of dying", Mercury simply answered as he abandoned the remainder of his dinner, "and you should know that Kilgharrah is convincing Adûn while they are away, so you do not need to inform him of the changes when he returns".

"That is not what I asked", Loivissa objected.

"Then what do you want me to say? That I will leave the fighting to others even if I know that my participation could mean the difference between victory and defeat?", Mercury asked her sternly.

"No…just promise to try and take care of yourself", Loivissa mumbled while looking down on the desk between them.

"As I said; I have no intention of dying", Mercury repeated himself, before he rose from his seat and moved around the desk and made to stand next to Loivissa, who was still solely looking upon the desk.

Loivissa was surprised when he gently grasped her chin, just as he had that night 10 days ago, and forced her to look up at him. The mere memory of that night made a blush form on Loivissa's cheeks, despite her best attempts to force it down.

"I cannot promise you that I will not be killed for some obscure reason during this encounter", he said seriously as he continued to trap her eyes with his own, "I might die during this and you might die during one of your upcoming battles, but how is that different from the past year, or the period before I even learned of what was happening in Alagaësia?"

"It just is", Loivissa said and escaped his grasp and the searching of his eyes by standing up and turning away.

"How?", Mercury asked seemingly confused, "what has changed?"

"We have", Loivissa said equally softly and turned to look at him.

"I have not", Mercury denied, now being the one to avoid looking at her, "my True Name has not changed, and I know that yours has not either, as the spell on Naina's talisman would have alerted me if it had been lifted".

"We have perhaps not changed in a way that redefined who we are, but there have been changes since then", Loivissa objected and gently lifted her palm to cover his left cheek and force him to look at her.

"No, this is one Pandora's Box that you do not wish to open", Mercury said hard and turned away from her touch.

"Who is Pandora?", Loivissa asked as she moved just a bit closer while still trying to get him to look at her.

"A mythical woman that was supposedly given a box by the gods and told never to open it", Mercury answered, quickly reverting to the same voice that he always used to explain on something, "eventually though, curiosity got the best of her and she opened it, only for all evil that had been gathered and locked in there, to escape into the world before she could close it again, leaving only hope behind in the unbreakable prison".

"But if only hope remains, then why not open it?", Loivissa argued and stepped closer until they were only just separated by a thin breath of air, though Mercury still kept his head averted to the side.

"You are missing the point of the story", Mercury argued with a slightly nervous sounding laughter, as he realized that he was trapped between the desk and her, "there was also all kinds of evil before that".

"But I would not be the first to open the box, would I?", Loivissa softly asked as she gently laid both her delicate hands on his cheeks and once again forced him to face her.

"…No", Mercury hesitantly answered as he leaned his head a little farther away from her in a futile attempt to create distance between them.

Loivissa would have none of it though, as she simply leaned closer to him until their faces were mere centimetres apart, where she stopped momentarily. She could feel Mercury's breath hitch and watched in his silvery eyes how caution and desire warred within them.

With his back pressed against the desk and Loivissa's hands still on both of his cheeks to symbolically cut off any other escape paths, she finally leaned in that last bit and captured his lips with her own. He was hesitant and unresponsive at first, and for a moment, Loivissa thought that he would completely reject her, before he finally responded in kind.

Soon, it was not Loivissa leaning over Mercury but rather a fierce battle for dominance as one continued to push further towards the other before being pushed back again. Loivissa was not completely aware of when or how they ended up on the desk, or who had brushed the contents of it down for that matter, but it was during this time that her last truly coherent thought hit her and she closed off her consciousness completely from Adûn. He did not need to witness what came next.

**Sometime during the night**  
"Why did you never tell me?", Loivissa asked softly from under the covers, having finally remembered what Mercury had been keeping from her for so long now.

Well, she had not remembered the exact events, but she had been able to piece together what had happened when she had somehow already known things that she certainly should not have known else.

"I figured that once was an occurrence, but twice is setting a precedent", Mercury answered softly from underneath her.

"Do you not think that you are getting a bit ahead of yourself", Loivissa asked coyly.

"I do not know, you seemed to be the one instigating both times", Mercury answered equally coyly, earning him a whack from Loivissa, "ouch, that hurt".

"More than gaining all those scars did?", Loivissa responded cheekily, "who would have known that such a slender body could have so many different scars?"

"I have not always been the best to patch myself up again", Mercury shrugged.

"Aww, want me to kiss them to make you feel better?", Loivissa asked suggestively.

"No, I think that you need your sleep more", Mercury annoyingly defused her idea, "you do have to be up in a few hours after all".

"Mmm, perhaps you are right", Loivissa drowsily agreed as she snuggled closer to him and slowly let her eyes drift shut.

It only felt like seconds later when Mercury roused her, after which they quickly put on some clothes and had a small quiet breakfast with the leftovers from dinner. Neither really talked much in the early morning hours, if it even could be called that this early into the next day, but they eventually managed to secretly, and without the knowledge of any guards, make their way to the agreed upon spot, away from any prying eyes, where Adûn waited impatiently, having already been saddled up yesterday with all that the pair would need for the journey.

After a moment of indecisive silence between the two, Mercury eventually was the one that started what would be their goodbye for a long time, "Loivissa, I…I want you to know that despite it putting you in danger, I am glad that you chose to defy me and come with me. You should know that-", but as he said this, he was cut off by Loivissa once again unexpectedly kissing him.

He tensed at first, something that Loivissa believed would not go away for a while, before he relaxed and leaned into the kiss. It was Loivissa that broke the kiss, but just as he was about to say something, she shook her head and stepped away from him and towards Adûn.

Mercury quickly seemed to understand her desire to let that be last thing said between them, as he kept his tongue and simply watched her slowly climb Adûn's saddle. When she was firmly in place, she looked back at him once more, before she to Adûn said, _go!_, and flew away into the starry night sky.

* * *

First of all, I am NOT losing my T rating to give you a descriptive scene(if I should have not already lost it with some of the more graphic violence so far, but hey, you have all watched the battles in lotr right? So there should be no need to fret...).

Second of all, even if I wanted to, I do not think that I actually could write it. I wrote most of this chapter while on a train, but just before I reached the bit about Pandora's Box(which I know should technically be a jar), I slammed my laptop shut and could not write anything more while people were around me. Then when I got home, I still had an immensely difficult time writing what came next, and multiple times, I had to force my fingers back to the keyboard.

I am willing to imply or even blatantly say that so and so have done it, but please do not make me describe it! I have no idea how the people that write the more adultered scenes here on FF manage to do so. I found this part far more difficult than the combined effects of breaking my main character's psyche, having him off children and generally slaughter people!

Now, with that out of the way, do any of you think that I let the relationship develop at this exact point in time(right before a major siege where the two will be separated from each other) for some specific purpose or do you believe that I will avoid the clichés of having Loivissa finally return a few months later to discover that she is pregnant(with or without having offed Mercury beforehand;D) or something along those lines?


	30. So it begins

**So it begins**

**Loivissa POV  
**It had only been a few hours since Loivissa and Adûn had left Mercury and his entrenched army, and the sun was only just beginning to rise slightly ahead of Loivissa. From their combined knowledge of the land, Adûn and Loivissa knew that they would be passing the ghost city of Terzigno soon.

So far, Adûn had not said a word about last night to Loivissa. She thought that he might know of what had happened between her and Mercury, but she could not be completely sure, and considering that neither of them had mentioned a word of last night to each other, and that she had blocked him from her mind during the events, there was still the possibility that he might not know.

…Who was she kidding? Adûn simply had to know what had happened. She might not have shared any memories of what happened during the night with him, which she under no circumstances would ever do, but that did not mean that there was no other ways for him to find out about it, or guess it, considering their goodbye.

_Just go ahead and say it_, Loivissa finally decided to be the one to break the silence.

_Say what, dear?_, Adûn asked, although Loivissa felt that he knew what she was talking about.

_You know…_, Loivissa said, _you always have something to say after…_

_If you are talking about your last escapade, then I would like to remind you that it was almost a century ago_, Adûn answered, _and considering you only had one mate before that one, I hardly believe that you could say that I always do so_.

_Word-cleaver! You really should try to talk to Mercury more often. You are both suckers for technicalities when you do not want to say something_, Loivissa accused,_ how did you find out about it anyway? Was it the kiss?_

_Although that certainly would have been a big giveaway, I already knew of it beforehand_, Adûn answered, _I guessed what might be happening when you blocked me out and did not come to see me even once during the night, but I only became sure of it after I smelled your scent when we left_.

_My scent? Eww, is it that bad? Can others also smell it?_, Loivissa asked embarrassed as she began to try and sniff herself to find out how bad it was.

_Some animals might notice, but I do not think that the two-legs with their petty sense of smell would notice it, but unless anything happens, we should reach the Sea of Tel tonight, so you can bathe there_, Adûn answered, _although I will never understand what it is with you two-legs and your need to cover something so natural up. It happens all the time._

_That is it! We are not talking about this anymore!_, Loivissa suddenly felt awfully tired of where this conversation was going.

Barely any time passed before Adûn asked, _so…why did you do it?_

_I thought that I said that we would not talk about it anymore_, Loivissa responded.

_Yes, you said that you did not want to talk about the act anymore_, Adûn countered, _I am asking why you did it_.

_You already know why. I…have had…feelings for him for a while now_, Loivissa finally responded.

_Yes, I already knew that very well_, Adûn said exasperated, _what I meant to ask was; why now? You have had these feelings for quite a few months now, and you have hardly been able to think of anything but him since that meeting, so why now?_

_I do not know_, Loivissa answered with a shrug, _we just finished agreeing that you and I should leave and then we talked for a bit and it...kind of just happened_.

'_Kind of just happened' does not sound like Mercury_, Adûn commented with a slightly suspicious tone in his voice, _are you sure that it was not something that he said or did that convinced you to go along with it?_

_I did not 'go along with it', I started it. He was quite reluctant. At first_, Loivissa answered, though she did not like where Adûn was going with this and let it show through their bond.

_I am just trying to look out for you_, Adûn said warily in regards to her displeasure, _I have not yet forgotten our first trip with him and how he tried to manipulate you during it_.

_We are both different from back then_, Loivissa defended, _besides, I do not think that he wanted me to know of his feelings until after the war was over_.

_You may say that he is different, but to me, he is more dangerous now than ever, even without his magic. He has an entire nation to command, an army devoted solely to him and he knows how to play both politician and general_, Adûn commented, _if he comes out of this encounter unscathed, then the dragon rider order will have to pay close attention to his actions from now on_.

_He did not want to be king or to rule over anyone!_, Loivissa mentally screamed at Adûn. She had never liked it when his more cynical side showed.

_How do you know that?_, Adûn asked sceptical, albeit less hostile than before.

_He told me the night before the coronation_, Loivissa started to explain, _he came to my rooms late at night to talk. He seemed more afraid than I have ever seen him of having to live for an eternity as king when he did not want to be one, and I think that he might have been planning to elope and needed me to talk him out of it_.

_How did you do that?_, Adûn asked curious.

_I offered to help him escape_, Loivissa answered, _I knew that it would make him realize that he could not go back after starting this. As he is so fond of saying; zur urz nac fatul, or loosely translated to; __you cannot go back, only forward_.

_And that was all it took?_, Adûn asked confused.

…_Well, I might have also promised him that I would stay and help him after the war_, Loivissa said hesitantly, before quickly adding, _but it would not be like I would never visit Alagaësia or see my family again or anything_.

_You really like him?_, Adûn asked very seriously, _and do you believe that he will make you happy?_

_I do_, Loivissa answered just as seriously, _and he will. He just needs some guidance from time to time_.

_Then I suppose that there is nothing for it then_, Adûn finally relented, _know that I just want for you to be happy, and if he can do that, then I will not stand between you. Besides, it might actually be a good thing that someone from the order helps to guide this new kingdom towards a better future, so that it and Alagaësia will not be at war ever again, and I doubt that Mercury would have been all too keen on letting someone else influence his decisions_.

_Thank you_, Loivissa said earnestly and poured her gratitude through their bond.

She would not have known what to do if Adûn had disapproved of her decision. She would never separate from her partner-of-heart-and-mind, but neither could she have endured it if the two were openly hostile or mistrustful towards each other all the time. The only real solution then would have been to leave with Adûn, and to Loivissa, that would have felt like betraying Mercury.

Loivissa knew that the reason why Mercury hardly ever let anyone close to him was because he knew that he was not good at handling emotional loss, just look at what happened with Elva, and after last night, she was pretty sure that he would have felt her leaving after promising to stay as the utmost of betrayals.

…_So, he was in your chambers late at night and you hid the entire night from me…_, Adûn said suggestively to try and lighten the mood.

_Nothing else happened between us that night_, Loivissa wacked his scales with a small grin. Adûn always knew what to do to lighten her spirits.

_That night, huh?_, Adûn picked up on her phrasing, _how about the night after then? I know that I was not completely sober at the time, but judging from your signals, you seemed to be having fun_.

She really wished that he had not asked about that, but at the same time, Loivissa knew that it would probably be best to come clean now.

_Well, it also sort of happened then_, Loivissa answered with her cheeks enflamed and while chewing her lip, _but I only remembered about it last night_.

_Hmm, at least that proves that he was serious about not wishing for anything to happen between the two of you until after the war_, Adûn said thoughtfully.

_How so?_, Loivissa asked confused.

_After that, he had to have known that the two of you would easily have been able to develop a relationship, but he still tried to avoid it for two months before you cornered him once again_, Adûn answered, _by then, he had to have realized that once could have been an accident, but twice is the beginning of a pattern_.

_I suppose that is true_, Loivissa mused, _why do you think that he wanted to wait until after the war?_

_I think that he might have thought it to be easier on both of you if either of you were to die_, Adûn answered thoughtfully.

_Do you think that there is a chance of him dying? In the upcoming battle, I mean_, Loivissa asked a question that had been plaguing her since she was asked to leave.

_He will be alright. If there is one thing that I know about him, then that is that he is a survivor_, Adûn tried to cheer Loivissa up, _and like Kilgharrah said; the sooner we can bring the two-leg-horned-hybrids to assist in the efforts, the less time they have to hold out. Who knows, perhaps the enemy will even be defeated when we finally get there?_

_Yeah, you are right_, Loivissa said slightly relieved.

After that, the two remained in companionable silence until they reached the empty city of Terzigno. It was eerie to see a city so desolate and without any life in it whatsoever. Its gates were all broken beyond repair, the small amount of siege engines that had once adorned the walls were now gone and Loivissa knew that no food remained in the city.

It was a part of Mercury's plan to leave it so. The enemy might be able to take the city any time that they wanted, they could after all just walk right in, but the city was no longer a defensible location and taking it would have no other meaning than taking an old derelict ruin.

Without words needing to be said between them, Adûn angled his wings and flew around the empty city without stopping in it. After that though, the forest soon came into view, and although it was not a pine-forest like Du Weldenvarden, it still reminded Loivissa of the magical forest of the elves.

They spent the remainder of the day flying above the dense forest, before evening came and they finally descended at the shores of the Sea of Tel. Despite their urgency, the trip from the shore to The Capital was not one that should be made lightly, so they set up camp on the shore, where Loivissa also bathed in the Sea of Tel, before she cuddled up under Adûn's wing and fell asleep until the next morning.

The next day was spent crossing the Sea of Tel, and when they reached The Capital, Naina was there to greet them and inquire upon recent events. Adûn and Loivissa spent the night in the palace, before they parted with Naina and flew north in the most direct line to reach the main isle before nightfall.

It took an additional five days for the pair to reach Anax Manin's army a little south of Olobobos, which had recently been taken by them. Anax Manin's army was far larger than Mercury's had been, numbering at least around 50.000, but they did not have any of the siege engines that Mercury's army had.

"_Why in the world have the Ra'zac Empire concentrated their efforts on us when you are clearly the bigger threat?_", had been the first thing that Loivissa had said to Anax Manin after the initial greetings had been made and she had been sufficiently showed off to the soldiers.

"_He did not tell you even after sending you up here?_", Anax Manin asked in the relative privacy of his command tent, relative if you considered the number of his subordinates and aides that were still in there, "_I suppose that it does make sense though, all things considered_".

"_What makes sense?_", Loivissa asked while keeping her temper in check and outwardly appearing more stoic than she was. This was not Mercury, and she did not want this person to know her true emotions.

"_The fact that I had him promise me in the Ancient language not to tell anyone of our plan_", Anax Manin responded evenly, "_I can talk about it now, seeing as keeping it secret for any longer is without meaning. You see, we knew that there was a risk that the colonial forces would be summoned if our enemies thought themselves to be about to be overwhelmed, so we concocted a plan to stall them._

_First Commander Mercury Iridium was to take over leadership of the beaten southern army and draw their full attention upon himself, which I had hoped that they would have seen as manageable when considering his depleted force and their remaining lands, and while their attention was focused solely on him, I would be able to take the entire northern half with only minor opposition._

_Of course we had to avoid them finding out about my forces, so until recently, we continued sending small amounts of supplies to them from our captured cities under the pretext of the supplies being raided underway. This also meant that I had to ensure that no news could get out from a besieged city before we had it fully under our control_".

"_Then how could you expect Mercury to take the southern half if you had to resort to this to take the northern half?_", Loivissa asked, inwardly fuming at the plan.

"_I did not_", Anax Manin answered simply, "_I expected him to make enough of a ruckus to draw their attention and then to keep it pinned there in the southern tip, while I had free reign to take the northern half and the breadbasket before they even knew what had happened, and by then, it would have been too late for them to call for help._

_Even if the entire southern army had died, it would still have made everything easier in the long run by doing it like this. I must however admit that I was surprised that he managed to push forward with what troops I had given him_".

"_And now?_", Loivissa questioned the current situation.

"_Now?_", Anax Manin asked with a shrug, "_now, he has continued to do what I asked of him. The former Ra'zac Empire will view his status as king as a direct insult to them and they will therefore blindly attack him and nothing else. They mean to set an example of him, and I doubt that they intend to take prisoners, but while they are busy hammering away at that distraction, we will be able to take the rest of the country without much opposition_".

"_What about him and his men then?_", Loivissa asked, already halfway convinced to leave this moment and join up with Mercury again.

"_I will not lie to you. If they still live when we reach them, then we will fall upon the enemy like waves upon a sandy beach, but it would take one hell of a miracle for them to be able to hold out for very long against that force. My most recent reports have their numbers now being around 120.000, not counting ra'zac or lethrblaka_", Anax Manin said with what sounded like empathy in his voice, "_if you are considering to leave and rejoin your master, then I would like to remind you that his only hope lies with my forces reaching him before his defences crumble. Like I said; I do not hold much hope that he can win, or even hold his position for very long, but neither will I leave him to die in the case that he does manage to do so. We will march as quickly as we can, and your help will severely lessen the time needed to take the cities on our way, but I am afraid that we cannot do more than this_".

"_I understand_", Loivissa accepted the fact that Anax Manin might view bleakly on Mercury's fate, but would still try to follow through on his end, _please be safe Mercury. I will be there in time to save you_.

**Mercury POV  
**It had been 25 days since Mercury had seen Loivissa and Adûn off. Those 25 days had mostly been spent on further fortifying his position. The river flowing to Terzigno had been redirected to run down an artificial waterfall instead of its usual more slowly descending route in order to both shorten his defensive line and to ensure that no vessel would be able to sail on it, not that Mercury expected them to have any. And if they managed to build some rafts and tried to sail up the river flowing west to Ercolano, then Mercury was prepared for that eventuality too.

Not only would it be like shooting fish in a barrel for his artillery to hit the enemy rafts, but just in case they launched a simultaneous assault on the ground and with the rafts that needed his western artillery to repel the ground troops, he had prepared to re-enact the battle of Dread, except that he would be on the side watching the enemy vessels burn this time around.

Another minor adjustment that he had let happen during the redirection of the river was the partial flooding of the flatter ground near his palisades. The bushes and plants easily concealed the fact that the ground was so soaked that it might as well have been a swamp. When the enemy forces would try to cross it, they would not be stopped by it, but they would be slowed down and fatigued from having to run through a field where your feet sank down with every step.

The fact that it would be raining flaming bolts from the ballistae now installed on the palisade walls, as well as flaming shots from the onagers and sizzling arrows from the archers on the palisade walls, was not likely to be a great motivator for the enemy soldiers either.

And in case they somehow managed to swarm his defences in the middle, then he had made sure that there was an additional line of palisade walls behind those to trap the approaching enemies between the two walls, as well as some walls that separated his eastern and western onager positions from the centre in the case that it fell.

Mercury did not believe that the odds of his two flanks being taken were particularly high, considering that they were located atop steep hills that would severely exhaust any that tried to climb them without even considering that they would then have to conquer the palisade walls from fresh troops with a clear height advantage, which were also in a prime position to fire down upon the storming enemies.

No, his flanks were safeguarded by the rivers, the hills and the walls cutting off the middle section from the sides. If they broke through, it would be in the centre, but just in case they did somehow break through the hills, he had also had another palisade wall constructed behind the onagers.

His campsite was surrounded by the river on one side and yet another palisade wall reaching from the river and to the lake. Mercury did not expect it to do much good if his outer positions were overrun, but it would help to make sure that in case the enemy somehow snuck a small team inside his outer walls during the night, they would not have immediate access to the tents with the sleeping and wounded soldiers, as well as their food supplies.

Speaking of food supplies, Mercury had had most of his supplies hidden within the natural cave inside the walls of his campsite, which he had then naturally posted guards outside. The reason for this was more because it was easier to keep it all dry in there than to have it lying around in the open.

"_Sir, they have arrived, sir!_", a messenger ran up to where Mercury was inspecting his latest additions and hastily said.

"_Excellent, call the troops together. I want to give them a few words before this starts_", Mercury responded calmly as he, along with the Varangian guards that followed him everywhere, began to move from the palisade around his camp and towards the centre of the outer palisades.

When he finally reached the outermost layer of palisades, it was easy to see why many of the sentries had gone pale, because down the slope was what looked like a solid mass stretching out to both rivers and as far back as the eye could see.

Many a lethrblaka circled above the mass, occasionally eliciting screeches to each other or their offspring on the ground, but Mercury doubted that they would attack today, as it looked like they were in the midst of setting up camp.

"_How will we ever be able to defend against THAT?!_", one of the sentries near Mercury asked his friend.

It was a valid question, as Mercury could not deny that he did not feel a tad bit nervous about this engagement. It was one of his reasons, but not the primary one, for sending Loivissa to the Supreme Commander instead of letting her stay here.

His only regret was that he had been unable to stop what had happened that night. It would have been much easier for Loivissa if he died not as a requited love interest, but as a crush and a simple imagination of what could have been.

If his defences fell before help arrived, then Mercury would at least die knowing that half of his army was still intact and that both Naina and Loivissa would live to see the end of this war. Kilgharrah was an entirely other matter, as Mercury was still unsure of what his beloved friend would do if the defences fell.

Part of Mercury knew that Kilgharrah would likely try to save him and then fly him away, but if he was cut off or dead, then he was unsure of what Kilgharrah would do. He kind of hoped that Kilgharrah's survival instinct would kick in if he died, so that he would not go into a blind rage and try to destroy the enemies on his own but rather escape and live, but Mercury's only experience to compare it with suggested that that scenario was not an altogether unlikely one.

"_Sir, the men are ready and waiting_", the same messenger suddenly said from beside him.

Sure enough, when Mercury turned around, he could see all of his men crammed together either on the palisade walls behind the outermost layer or in the centre square surrounded by palisade walls on all sides. Kilgharrah was perched behind the back layer of palisade wall, but his head was located above the palisade wall, so that he had a clear view to Mercury. Mercury took a moment to consider how anyone would have laughed at him in the past if he had said that this puny force of just above 5.000 was to hold back an enemy outnumbering them at least 24 times.

The thought made him grin as he raised his hand to silence the muttering, "_soldiers of Damocles, comrades and friends, I have called you here to tell you that our enemy has finally arrived. With him, he has brought an army so grossly outnumbering our own that no one in recorded history has ever seen a more unfair fight, and yet I ask that you hold them back. How, you may ask; how are we to hold back such a force?_

_Let me tell you how! They may have more men, but we have better men! They may try to flood us like the sea, but we have the high ground! They will clash upon our defences like waves clash upon a rocky shore! Rocks are not eroded by the clashing waves for decades, but I ask only that you not erode until the promised help arrives!_

_The very ground shall be soaked in our enemies blood! Their petty excuses for soldiers will come to fear ever stepping near these walls and the lethrblaka that spawned their ra'zac kings shall fall from the sky! You are all soldiers of the First Sword of Damocles! Let us make the world fear that name!_

_When your children and your children's children look back upon this day, you will be able to tell them that you were here, that you beat all the odds, that you did what others found impossible, and I promise you; we will be remembered for all time to come!_"

The soldiers banged their weapons against their shields as they roared their challenge to the incoming enemies, while Kilgharrah threw his head back and released a torrent of crystal clear flames towards the skies that looked almost like molten glass dissipating up into the air.

"So it begins", Mercury murmured quietly to himself as he turned around to face the horde of enemies.


	31. Day one

You are going to be happy this Mammoth Monday, because to better let you picture how the battle will go, I have made this map of it(also found as a direct link on my profile):

ocadioan . deviantart art / The-siege-of-Rushno-408155682

* * *

**Day one**

**Mercury POV(the morning after)  
**Mercury knew that it would be today. Even with a camp the size of a city, you could not completely hide the preparations of an imminent assault, not that he had expected them to wait for long before launching their first assault.

In many ways, today was going to be a test of how this was going to go from now on. The Ra'zac Empire no doubt knew that he had fortified his position, they would have to be blind not to know, and to them, it would be just as much of a test as it was to him.

If they did as he expected them to do, as any competent commander would, then the force that would attack today would be nothing more than a small force to prod at his defences and show what exactly they would have to count on in the battles to come.

Well, small in comparison with the rest of their army, but even if it was just a twentieth of their total forces, they would still outnumber Mercury's forces by a thousand. The thought of that alone made Mercury smile wryly.

They had enough reserves to throw Mercury's numbers plus a thousand at him without any regards to how many of them died in a simple attempt to gauge his defences. He in turn had to both defend his positions so fiercely that they would not attempt another attack for a while, so as to give his forces more time to allow help to arrive, AND make sure that his own forces came out relatively unscathed and without giving up the secret preparations that he had had constructed.

The longer he could keep the pit falls and his other surprises concealed, the better his chances would be, because most of those surprises were unfortunately one-time use only, either because they could only work one time or because they would be useless if the enemy knew of them.

Currently, Mercury was perched in the wooden tower that he had had constructed a little behind the centre line, as he had been since before the sun even rose. Its purpose was to give him a vantage point to properly observe and direct the battles to come, although Mercury had no doubt that because it stood out, it would no doubt be viewed as a target.

To that end, he had had it heavily reinforced with wards to both strengthen its construction and to divert incoming attacks, be they physical or arcane in nature. He knew that it would not last long if the enemy's siege engines all decided to roll up and fire on it, but long before they would ever come in range of the tower, they would have been targeted by his own onagers and subsequently destroyed, so he doubted that they would attempt to do such a thing.

Behind him, Mercury heard the tell-tale signs of someone climbing the ladder leading up to his platform. He knew that it was not one of his Varangian guards, as two of them had been ordered to remain on the ground to guard said ladder, while the other two were up here with him.

Instead of moving just a little back to look down, Mercury chose to remain where he was, facing the enemy camp with a mug of hot tea in his right hand and his left arm resting on the table in front of him with the map of the combat area on it, along with a number of wooden pieces to symbolize his enemy's and his own forces.

Finally, Mercury heard the unknown visitor reach the platform, but he still chose not to turn around to look at him. If it was important, the visitor would have announced his presence and the premise for his visit before he had even started the climb.

"_It is quiet up here_", the visitor, now identified by his voice as Slava, said as he moved to stand beside Mercury on the platform.

"_It is_", Mercury agreed without either of them ever taking their eyes off of the view in front of them.

It had been a no brainer that Slava had to be one of the advisors that Mercury had brought with him to help organize their defence. His experience and reputation for never losing even a metre's ground to whatever enemy that he faced made him invaluable in the current situation.

Of his other notable advisors, Mercury had had Vollar, his practical if unofficial second-in-command and most experienced officer in siege engines, take over the management of his artillery positions, while Hsath, the usual head of intelligence, had been given command of the ambush forces in the forest to the east, which Mercury believed that his talents were quite suited for, and finally there was Teleri, whose skill but lack of imagination had landed him in the position of managing the forces of Ottaviano, as well as the supplies being brought forward to Mercury via the river.

"_Just between you and me; do you ever get scared of looking at the enemy's numbers?_", Slava asked from beside Mercury.

"_Scared? No. Nervous? Yes_", Mercury answered, "_any commander that says that they are not nervous when looking at our situation is either mad or lying_".

"_Was that why you sent your apprentice away?_", Slava asked hesitantly.

That Mercury and Loivissa's relationship had gone far beyond master and apprentice was still a secret shared only by four individuals, as Mercury guessed that neither dragon had not found out about it. Kilgharrah had certainly known even before Loivissa had kissed him goodbye. In fact, up until two days after her departure, most of the men had assumed that she was simply on a scouting mission.

"_I sent her away because doing so would shorten the Supreme Commander's travel time and thereby heighten our chances of making it through this, not to remove her from battle altogether_", Mercury answered, "_if we are still here when help arrives, then she will be in the first line to fly down and crush the enemies between us, and if we are not here when they arrive, then she will still be in the first line to crush those that defeated us_".

"_That is some woman, I must say_", Slava replied with a slow chuckle, "_are all of the elven ancestors' women like that?_"

"_Some are, some are not_", Mercury answered with a shrug, "_this one is special though, and not just because she is a dragon rider_".

"_Hmm, I would like to see that for myself one day_", Slava mused wishfully, "_did you know that before this expedition, I had never been farther away from my birth city state than what was required of my military duties?_".

"_No, I did not_", Mercury said simply, before politely asking, "_where are you from?_"

"_Helgrind, actually_", Slava said with a small smile, "_I remember your last visit there. Let me see how long is it since? Four, five years? I do not think that we were ever introduced to one another, but your visits always did fire up the dull old city, especially when you brought foreign goods with you_".

"_Yes, if I remember correctly, then that was the year where I brought a wagon full of the season's last strawberries from the south_", Mercury reminisced, "_what was it again that your people always used to call me_?"

"_The frozen wanderer_", Slava reminisced with a laugh, "_but you have to admit that after that stunt into The Northern Wastes on your first visit, there would have been little else to call you. You know, I always used to try to imagine how you managed to survive four weeks, during WINTER no less, up there_".

"_Yes, I do admit that waiting for spring might have been the wiser option in hindsight_", Mercury answered with a wry grin.

A while passed where neither of them said anything, as they simply continued to stare out at the enemy camp that was slowly waking up. Mercury would occasionally sip at his tea, while Slava beside him simply continued to rest both his hands on the table.

"_Why are they doing this?_", Slava finally asked, "_they can see as well as I that our position is heavily fortified and no doubt know that they cannot take it without disproportionate high losses when compared to what wiping us out will strategically give them, and yet they are still here. Why?_"

"_Because of pride_", Mercury simply answered, "_because I was declared king over their lands and have since challenged them, they feel that they have no choice but to make an example of me. It was pride that brought them here and it will be pride that makes them stay_".

"_I think that they are preparing for an attack_", Slava said after a little while, instead of commenting on what Mercury had just said.

"_Yes, they will attack after breakfast has been served_", Mercury agreed, "_it would probably be best if you also began to prepare your men for the attack_".

"_Yes, at once, your highness_", Slava obliged, "_I will make sure that the centre will not fall even if their entire army should come crashing down on us_".

"_Be careful of making such promises, the chance may come for you to keep them soon enough_", Mercury commented as he watched Slava begin his descent out of the corner of his eyes.

He took another sip of his tea as he watched both sides preparing for the incoming clash. Mercury estimated that the enemy force gathering outside their camp was around 10.000 strong, while his own forces manning the palisade walls and the siege engines numbered less than 2.000.

The remaining 3.000 were in reserve, as was the grounded Kilgharrah. Mercury desperately hoped that it was overkill to pit 2.000 against 10.000, because if it was not, then he would soon be overrun. One by one, his advisor and their aides slowly joined him atop his wooden tower, having finished with their respective last preparations.

"_Everything is ready, your highness_", Vollar said while drawing up the map with the wooden figurines.

"_Good, tell your men that they are not to open fire until effective range is reached_", Mercury instructed, "_if we can stop their advance early enough, then many of the pit falls, spikes and our other anti-infantry presents will remain intact_".

"_And if they get past them?_", another asked.

"_Then they still have to get past the moats and trenches, while being under fire from both the ballistae on the walls and the archers, before they can even hope to reach the walls, let alone try to scale them_", Mercury responded.

_You know, if you let me, I think that I could fit in between the walls and then spray fire out unto the storming enemies_, Kilgharrah suddenly mentally suggested to Mercury.

_No, I would like to keep as much of our forces in reserve as possible_, Mercury denied his offer, _seeing us deploy too many assets to repel this small skirmish will only encourage them to attack more often. We can go hunting tonight_.

_I know, I know. It is just so agitating to sit here and do nothing while others fight_, Kilgharrah said.

_Patience never was your strong suit_, Mercury responded with a grin that was completely out of place amongst his sombre advisors.

When the sun reached its highest position in the sky, the attack began. The first wave of soldiers were sent forth to try and scale his artillery positions with ladders. The swamp land surprised and slowed them down, and as they desperately tried to advance, Mercury's onagers started to fire.

Burned clay balls and large chunks of rock rained down among the incoming enemies with the acute precision that had been honed throughout the last month. From where Mercury stood, even with his improved eye sight, the carnage that he was sure was happening looked like nothing more than dark figures being stricken and felled by the incoming projectiles, while the wooden ladders that they were carrying, broke all around them.

These were not trained soldiers, not that Mercury had expected the Ra'zac Empire to throw their regulars into such a slaughter, and as a result of their lack of morale and discipline, they broke before they had even come halfway through the swampland.

Ladders were abandoned in favour of running for their lives as projectiles rained down all around them. A few brave individuals stayed behind to help some of the wounded away from the field, but they were a gross minority, not that Mercury could blame them under the circumstances.

Despite everyone knowing that the attack was not over yet, a cheer still went up through Mercury's lines as they successfully repelled the very first wave without it even coming to fighting on their part. Mercury could not blame them, nor would he, as he was fully aware that it was these small victories that would keep his soldiers' morale up through what would no doubt be a long and bloody struggle.

The next wave of attacks came much differently from the first, as instead of simply ordering out a mass of soldiers to attack head on, the enemy pulled their own siege engines up to begin hammering down the siege engines on Mercury's flanks that had repelled the first wave.

An exchange of ammunition soon began between the two forces, and while this went on, a second much larger wave of soldiers, probably around half of their starting numbers, marched by the enemy siege engines and into the swampland.

"_Keep having the forward artillery positions bombard the enemy's siege engines, but instruct the centre west artillery positions to begin to open fire on the soldiers advancing on the eastern flank, while the centre eastern are to do the same with the western flank_", Mercury calmly instructed, as he watched the events unfold.

"_The men are asking if they should use the flaming ammunition_", Vollar asked after having forwarded his orders.

"_No, keep to regular for now_", Mercury answered. He did not have enough of the flaming oil barrels to use them on every encounter, so he had to deem when it was necessary and when it was not.

Without the concentrated fire of his forward positions, the enemy soldiers were able to advance much more quickly through the swampland, even picking up the first wave's discarded siege ladder on their way. The enemy onagers on the other hand fared less well than their fellow soldiers, as the eventual outcome of the skirmish between the two forces was quickly becoming evident.

Mercury's onagers did not only have the high ground and the advantage of already having been shot in, so as to fire accurately, but unlike the drawn up enemy ones, they had also been safely tucked away behind the thick palisade walls that had been filled with dirt to absorb the impact of just this sort of enemy retaliation.

As a direct result of all of this, Mercury had yet to lose a single onager, although a few deaths on the walls had been inevitable, while his enemy's number of siege engines was slowly but surely dwindling down. And to add insult to injury, the enemy foot soldiers were just about to come into range of his wall-mounted ballistae.

Mercury did not even need to direct what was to happen, as Vollar had already given out the same commands that Mercury would have, which resulted in a third of the ballistae on the walls firing simultaneously upon the advancing enemy, before another third fired another volley while the first third began to reload.

By the time that the final third had fired their volley, the first third had reloaded and quickly started the cycle once again. If there was one thing that Mercury would have to respect about the enemy soldiers, then that would surely have been their guts.

Despite having to run through a swampland with a hail of two metre bolts firing down upon you from your front, while giant rocks are being thrown at you from the side by onagers, the soldiers somehow managed to keep going anyway.

The sheer mass of soldiers could have something to do with it, but it was still an intriguing sight to behold as these young and old men that had probably never held a sword in their hands before, continued to run through the rain of death with battle cries on their lips.

They had almost reached the outskirts of the swampland when they came into range of the archers atop the walls. Directing these archers on when and what to fire on was neither Mercury's nor his advisors' responsibility, as that responsibility was being given to the officers in the field.

So, without any instructions or orders from them, Mercury and his advisors all watched as a steady stream of arrows began to rain down upon the advancing enemies. Many fell from the deadly wounds that were inflicted by the combined effects of archers, onagers and ballistae, but they still did not break, not yet anyway.

Despite the heavy losses that were inflicted upon them, the enemy soldiers still managed to advance forward through the swampland and into what must have looked like a heavenly solid grassland to them. That assumption did not last long however, as men and entire ladders suddenly disappeared with frightening screams of terror from all around them.

They had reached the pit falls, holes in the ground with wooden spikes at the bottom and camouflage atop, which randomly covered the entire expanse between the swampland and up until 20 metres from the palisade walls.

The combined effects of the rain of death and the fear that every new step could mean that they would fall into one of these pit fall traps proved to be too much for the soldiers, who soon broke and ran, leaving the dying and injured soldiers in the traps and on the ground to fend for themselves.

Upon seeing the rout, the enemy onagers were quickly pushed back and out of range, which coincidentally left the routing soldiers with more than double the amount of artillery fire raining down upon them, further adding to their fright and general confusion, which made some of them run in a completely different direction from where their camp was.

The attack was over for the day, as the remainder of the enemy scouting force neither had the numbers nor the morale to even attempt anything more today, not to mention that evening was soon upon them. They had gotten what they had come for, and Mercury had no doubt that the next land-based attacks would be in larger numbers, but that they would not give up trying to break through his forward positions just yet.

Mercury estimated that only around a third or so of the original force of 10.000 that had attacked him this day, made it back to camp, although most of ones that did not make it back could probably still be saved if anyone dared to go out into the no-man's land between the two camps and pick them up.

Although Mercury would have preferred to keep the pit falls secret for a bit longer, he was still overall pleased that they had not yet reached the strip of land that had small hidden spikes buried in the land between the pit falls to ensure that any enemy that stepped on them would have their foot impaled.

"_A good first day_", Vollar said beside Mercury, earning the recognition of his other advisors.

"_Yes it was_", Mercury responded far less cheerful than the others, "_I think that I would like to go congratulate the soldiers that made it possible and begin assessing the damages that needs repairing_".

Mercury spent the rest of the evening either giving words of encouragement to the soldiers under his command or assessing and organizing the repairs needed. It was also during this time that Mercury had wanted to send a report of the first forage through scrying mirror to his other forces and the Supreme Commander, but had been told that it had not been possible to do so.

The cause of this blackout had soon been identified as an enemy ward surrounding their camp that was cutting off all magical communication with the outside world. It was not an unfamiliar trick to Mercury, as he had been the one to suggest that the Supreme Commander should use this exact same ward in his campaign.

Ironically enough, the secret to making this impenetrable yet easy to maintain and highly difficult and energy consuming to break through ward was one that Mercury had picked up from the Ra'zac Empire a long time ago. Unfortunately, he had never studied it thoroughly enough to know how it explicitly worked and thereby how you could break through it without wasting enormous amounts of energy on nothing.

_Well, then I guess that I will have to have all my reports manually transported to Ottaviano and then forwarded from there then_, Mercury grumbled internally, _this unfortunately also means that I can only do so when the riverboats get here with the first batch of supplies_.

The sun was setting by then, and Mercury knew that if he wanted to eat something before morning came, then it would have to be now. He quickly managed to get a few potatoes, a few carrots and a chicken wing that he could eat on the fly, before he retreated to his tent to get some gloves and the sack that he had had Loivissa prepare for him back when Kilgharrah had joined them in Viana.

He had just finished his last carrot when he finally reached his destination; the royal purple form of Kilgharrah, who had already been saddled and looked more than eager to brave the skies once again. Around the dragon were not only the guards that Mercury had given him, but also a few of his own advisors, which were there to see Mercury off.

_You ready, old man?_, Kilgharrah haughtily greeted him.

_To go hunting? Always!_, Mercury responded cheerfully as he bounded up the saddle and began to strap his legs into place, _the question should rather be whether you have forgotten how to change the colour of your scales after not being able to for so long_.

_A dragon never forgets a part of itself that easily_, Kilgharrah answered proudly and proved it by letting individual sections of his body change through the colours of the visible spectrum, although it was not much to look at considering that most of the lighting was now done by the few torches carried by the people around them.

_I think that a dark purple would actually be prudent given the current sky_, Mercury suggested which Kilgharrah soon changed into, before their attentions were caught by the one of the ones still on the ground clearing his throat.

"_Since we cannot dissuade you from this decision, we would like to wish you a good hunt and to return safely_", Slava said from below Mercury. None of his advisors had been all that happy about Mercury's solution to deal with the lethrblaka raids that were sure to come during the nights.

Of course being that that solution consisted of Mercury and Kilgharrah braving the skies each night to pick off any lethrblaka that they could find without actually getting involved in any major clashes, the advisors might have had some cause for concern.

"_And a good night to you too. May yours be less eventful than mine_", Mercury greeted them back as Kilgharrah prepared to take off.

Kilgharrah took off with a buffet of wind that almost knocked the far too close standing dökkálfar away, but even to the watchful eyes of the lethrblaka, he would not have been visible due to his camouflage and the dark. The pair quickly climbed to a high altitude, before they began to circle above their camp in search of anything to strike down on.

The sky was fortunately enough full of skies that prevented Kilgharrah's form from being distinguished from below. Even with his camouflaging abilities, Kilgharrah would have been visible to anyone properly looking if his form blocked out the stars.

Mercury once again checked that all of the enchanted stones were present in his bag, before he drew up his hood and facemask to keep the chilly wind up there away. The enchanted stones were the upgraded versions of his original ones that he had used when his magic began to wane.

He had had Loivissa change their activation from him activating them with his mind to activating them by saying a keyword, while also changing the source from where they took their energy from being Mercury directly and towards being the gems in the royal signet ring that had replaced his old dwarven one.

Unfortunately, since it would be difficult if he had too many to discern one another from, he had had to limit his selection of stones to just the most essential purposes. One made all of the wards needed around Kilgharrah, while most of the remaining ones all had purposes designed to heal different wounds that Kilgharrah might sustain. It was a good solid batch designed for aerial combat, although Loivissa certainly had not imagined that their debut would be under these circumstances when she had made them.

_Thinking of her again, are we?_, Kilgharrah teased, _she must really have made an impression that night, or is that your normal response to mating?_

_Yeah, like you are one to talk about proper responses after mating_, Mercury countered, _remember that wild one that you angered and which subsequently destroyed my old tower in Nolondil?_

_That I angered? As I recall the episode, it was you that scarred the hatchling for life_, Kilgharrah countered with a chuckle at the memory.

_You left it with me for two months. What did you expect me to do?_, Mercury also chuckled at the memory, though it was far more amusing in hindsight than it had been to live through, before a shadow caught his attention, _wait, I think that I see something over there_.

Kilgharrah turned to get a better look at where Mercury was indicating. From their position high in the sky, the pair could see the torches that lined the palisade walls, but the campsite and onagers had all been forbidden from lighting any fires near them, so as to not give away their positions.

It was against the light of the innermost palisade wall that both of them this time saw a shadow fly over. It had only been briefly, but it was enough of a confirmation for the two of them to dive towards its projected location in an attempt to make a quick snatch and grab.

Just like Loivissa had told him that she had done during the siege of Tel Noach, Mercury had Kilgharrah latch on to the unsuspecting lethrblaka, before they forced it down not into the ground, as they could very well hit their own forces in this darkness, but rather into the lake just behind the campsite.

The lethrblaka's desperate screeches tore through the night as it was forced into the water from which it could not escape, but before any of the other lethrblaka that responded with screeches all around Mercury and Kilgharrah, could avenge their fallen comrade, the pair had disappeared out of sight thanks in part to Kilgharrah's camouflaging abilities.

_One down, a couple of dozen more to go_, Mercury dryly said.

_It still beats hunting sparrows in the skies above The Capital_, Kilgharrah said far more enthusiastically.

A cry of terror from the outer palisade walls broke up their light banter as they rushed to find out what had happened. As it turned out, the lethrblaka were beginning to use their own tactic on Mercury's men on the palisade walls, where they would suddenly strike from above and then disappear into the night before any retaliation could be made by the others on guard.

_Let the hunt begin!_, Kilgharrah said far too enthusiastically.

The pair spent the rest of the night avoiding being detected while simultaneously trying to detect the lethrblaka that also tried to avoid detection and which were quickly figuring out that something else was in the night sky with them.

Mercury could not utilize the same light trick that he had done with Loivissa and Adûn at Tel Noach, as that time had been about Loivissa simply distracting the lethrblaka observers for long enough for him to win the ground fight, while this time would be one long fight night after night until Kilgharrah and Mercury finally kicked it, which they might actually very well do on the first night if that tactic was being used.

No, right now, the darkness was both their enemy and their friend, as it both helped to conceal him and Kilgharrah from unfriendly eyes but also concealed those unfriendly eyes in turn. It actually turned out to be an amusing, if nerve-wracking, night of tag between the lethrblaka and Kilgharrah and Mercury, during which Kilgharrah and Mercury managed to successfully take out three lethrblaka in the same sudden attacks that had killed the first one, while the lethrblaka in turn took out a few more of the guards on the walls.

The deadly game of tag was only broken up when the sky began to lighten and both parties had to withdraw, as staying would surely mean death for both of them. Kilgharrah and Mercury, because the lethrblaka would now be able to see them and openly swarm them, and the lethrblaka, because they would then be visible to the ballistae crews, who could then shoot them down.

_So begins day two_, Mercury mused as Kilgharrah began his descent to the ground.


	32. We are still here

I am considering changing the description of my stories to a more happy loving sounding one, just to see whether anyone would review and complain that this was not what the description said. It might be amusing...

* * *

**We are still here**

**Vardo POV  
**It had been two weeks since the attacks had begun and although they were still there, still fighting, it was beginning to look bleak for the defenders. The first week had actually not been that bad, all things considered.

The accursed Ra'zac Empire had spent another day attacking the forward outposts, after which a night-time raid had been tried, before they had given up on capturing them and instead begun focusing on the centre line.

Now, they would simply roll up their siege engines to bombard the forward outposts from sunrise till sundown, while their main force would rush in and try to break through the weaker centre fortifications. There were exceptions of course, such as the two times that they had tried sailing up the river to Ercolano with improvised siege rafts.

The rafts were dubbed so because they had been built in a quite peculiar shape. The bottom of the rafts were a standard, if quite large, rectangular shape, but the forward side, as well as the one facing the eastern shore, had had a wooden wall segment built into them, which provided cover for both the archers and the melee soldiers getting ready to storm the shore.

The first time that had happened had been at night, and the only reason that it had been discovered in time had been because of Lord Mercury and the dragon Kilgharrah. The first time had been repelled easily enough, but the second time had been worse strategically for the defenders.

The reason for this was that during the second attempt, the lethrblaka had been there to strike down on all the siege engines that were lit up, which they kind of needed to be at night in order for the men to work them.

A number of siege engines had been lost as a result of this, despite Lord Mercury's and Kilgharrah's valiant attempts to kill and distract as many lethrblaka as they could. The attack had only been crushed when Kilgharrah had told them that Lord Mercury had given the signal to light his countermeasures.

The entire river had soon lit up into orange and red flames that constantly travelled further downward as the current kept taking the lit oil with it. No further attempts had been made to circumvent their defences via the river after that.

It was a good thing that the enemy had stopped trying to go that way, because despite not having any responsibilities in that area, Vardo still knew that they did not have nearly enough oil munitions to attempt the fire stunt again.

In fact, munitions in general seemed to be something that they were generally beginning to run out of. The supplies from Ottaviano that came twice a week simply could not carry enough to replace what had been used, especially of the heavier onager and ballistae ammunition, and as a result, those machines' use now had to be rationed.

This rationing had then led to increased melee combat on the walls, which in turn severely increased the death toll on the defenders' side. Every time the supply ships came, they brought with them a fresh batch of soldier to replace the dead and wounded that were being ferried back, although the replacements were never enough to fully replace the lost ones.

The dead were being ferried back simply because they did not know what else to do with them. They did not have even an inkling of the amount of wood needed to burn them, and burying them would take too much energy and space for it to be a viable option. No one had even suggested simply dumping the bodies in the rivers and then letting the current take them, as whatever feeble morale that still remained was mostly upheld by the companionship between the defenders, and seeing your friends treated as such, while knowing that it could be you the next day, was not likely to increase your sense of companionship.

Food was not a problem, as they had already stocked up for a month before the enemy even got here, but that seemed to be the only thing that they were not running out of. Well, that and enemies to kill.

Currently, Vardo was waiting on an empty field for Lord Mercury and Kilgharrah to land from their nightly forage, as it was his shift, along with three others from the Varangian Guard, to guard their Commander from dusk till dawn today.

The sky had only just begun turning a shade of orange when they saw a familiar orange-coloured distorted shape move down towards them. Kilgharrah landed soon after, before he changed back into the usual deep royal purple that he was always associated with.

Lord Mercury quickly climbed down from the saddle after they had landed, but upon reaching the ground, his feet wobbled slightly before he could get them back under control. His skin was an ashen grey and his eyes looked tired and like they could close at any moment now.

"_Water_", Lord Mercury commanded in a raspy voice, as he outstretched his hand to receive the waterskin that was soon placed in it.

He took quite a few deep gulps of it, before he wiped his mouth and said, "_bread_".

Since it was practically part of his morning routine to have his breakfast immediately after landing, the requests came as no surprise to the guards, who had made sure to bring food and water with them when they first began their shift.

A loaf of hard rye bread was laid in his hands, which Lord Mercury quickly began to tear chunks off of and practically wolf them down, before he quickly took another drag from the waterskin to help him swallow the chunks.

"_I want a damage report of our casualties tonight ready in a few hours_", Lord Mercury instructed as he began to walk towards his tent, after having nodded farewell to Kilgharrah, "_also, I would like there to be something for me to eat at that time as well_".

"_Yes, of course, your highness_", Vardo's senior officer responded as they began to follow in his wake, while Lord Mercury was still chewing down the bread like he expected someone to snatch it out of his hands in a short while, "_what happened tonight, if you do not mind me asking?_"

"_They baited us and then swarmed us when we took the bait_", Mercury responded between chewing on the bread and gulping down water to help get it down, "_Kilgharrah's wards were depleted early into the fight and in order to heal his later injuries, I had to supplement a bit of my own energy to my depleted store of energy_".

A bit seemed to be a gross understatement when you considered how utterly spent Lord Mercury looked, but none of his fellow guards chose to comment on it. Although they had been rare in the start, the more serious engagements between Lord Mercury and Kilgharrah and then the lethrblaka had been increasing as time went on.

It was a result of both parties becoming better at identifying their opponents, which strangely enough was a bad thing for Lord Mercury's and Kilgharrah's success rate, because it meant that the fast-paced quick encounters were beginning to disappear.

This meant that the battle was becoming more and more a battle of attrition, and if all of Lord Mercury's stored up energy had been expended this night, then that meant that Vardo did not know how much longer it would be before the pair finally kicked it.

"_Sire, if you would allow me to borrow your ring and pass it around among the men, then I am sure that many of them would be willing to contribute a little bit of their own strength to aid in your efforts_", Vardo's senior officer said the same thoughts that passed through his own head.

Lord Mercury seemed reluctant to allow it, but eventually conceded on the matter, "_alright, but no one is to give more energy than they can spare. I need all of them to be at their best if another attack begins_".

"_Of course, I shall pass along the message_", Vardo's senior officer said with a nod as he received the ring, just as the group reached Lord Mercury's red tent, "_have a good rest, your highness_".

Lord Mercury took one last bite of the bread and gulped it down with the last water from the waterskin, before he tossed both items to Vardo and said, "_thank you, I will. If I am not already up and about in two hours, then I order you to wake me_", before he disappeared into his tent.

The senior officer silently mumbled, "_as your wish_", after which he turned towards the other two Varangian guardsmen and ordered, "_no one is to disturb him while he rests_", before he turned to Vardo to give him his further orders, "_go to the chefs' tents and tell them to have something with a high fat and energy content ready for when our king wakes. I will begin my round among the men in the meantime_".

"_Yes, at once, sir_", all three guards saluted, before they separated to fulfil their individual tasks.

Vardo had no idea how his lord managed to get by with the schedule that he kept, although he was not entirely sure that it was not already beginning to take its toll on his lord. Lord Mercury and Kilgharrah had hunted lethrblaka during every night since the enemy had first attacked, which was the only reason why there was not a far higher mortality rate on the night shift, though the increasing terror of the lethrblaka threat at night only grew worse as time went on.

After the sun began to rise, both parties would then retreat to their separate camp, where Lord Mercury usually spent perhaps two hours on eating and resting, before he was up and about again. During the day, Kilgharrah would sleep unless absolutely needed in the defences, but Lord Mercury was always busy either directing battles, inspecting damages, filing paperwork for additional supplies from Ottaviano or going around to encourage the weary troops.

Then when dusk came and the likelihood of an enemy attack was low, he would spend perhaps another two hours eating and resting, before he and Kilgharrah would once again take to the skies to act as the defenders' only means of defending against the nightly lethrblaka threat.

To Vardo, Lord Mercury had always seemed like an ethereal being. Someone that was there and yet seemed to be halfway somewhere else as well. Although Vardo had initially attributed much of it to the man's silvery cat-like eyes, which were really the only visual indicator that Lord Mercury was not like the humans of this land, he now had to attribute a fair amount of it to the way that Lord Mercury acted as well.

Not even once had Vardo seen Lord Mercury display even an inkling of the despair that secretly filled many of his fellow dökkálfars' hearts, and when he discussed their increasingly dire situation with his advisors, it never seemed to fully affect him just how dire their situation was becoming.

Vardo knew that many of his fellow soldiers viewed this calmness as their one source of inspiration that they would prevail in the end, but to Vardo, it seemed more like Lord Mercury simply already knew whatever the gods had chosen to bestow upon them and had accepted that there was nothing that he could do to change it.

What that fate was, only Lord Mercury knew, and Vardo was not entirely sure that he wanted to know, not even if he was offered the chance to find out by the gods themselves. He hoped that he would live through this endeavour to be able to once again see his beloved.

Whether Lord Mercury knew of the secret union that Vardo and his aide de camp had forged, Vardo did not know, but if they made it through this alive, then Vardo would begin preparations for asking Lord Mercury for his beloved's hand.

"_What brings you here, friend?_", one of the chefs suddenly tore through Vardo's thoughts and asked.

"_I have been instructed to instruct you to make something with lots of fat and energy for our king when he wakes in a few hours_", Vardo regained himself and said, "_he has had a demanding night and requires sustenance to replenish his stores_".

"_I think that I have just the thing_", the chef responded, before he gestured to the mostly eaten loaf of bread and asked, "_I remember making that this morning, but now it looks like it was ripped apart. Did he really eat that already?_"

"_Yes, he ate on his way to the tent, but he was apparently more tired than hungry_", Vardo responded with a shrug, "by the way, _Datia might come by here later to ask whether you wish to make a donation for our king's spent energy storage_".

"_Well, then I suppose that I will have to add some fatter meat to the menu today_", the chef said with a nod as Vardo began to leave.

Before long, Vardo had once again taken his place standing guard outside of Lord Mercury's tent. They waited there for two hours as Lord Mercury had instructed them to, before they knocked on the tent pole and roused him from his slumber with the broth that had been delivered by then.

Lord Mercury took a spoonful of the broth and swallowed it like he had to fight to keep it down, before he took another and then another until the bowl was empty, after which he was handed the report that he had asked for earlier and then got back to his other duties.

They spent a good portion of the morning going over various mundane affairs, but just as Vardo thought that today would be one of the few days that they were not attacked, an all too familiar horn was blown from the enemy's camp.

_No rest today then_, Vardo mused as he followed his lord's hasty sprint towards his command tower.

**Loivissa POV  
**Loivissa ducked the sloppy swing coming her way and promptly returned the gesture by beheading the young human in front of her with Aiedail. Behind the man, his two comrades looked at their fallen friend's headless body with fear and anger engraved into their features, before they stormed towards Loivissa.

Their lack of proper training and experience was becoming more and more evident by the minute, as both of them rushed towards Loivissa with cries of outrage and their swords high above their head, making it appear more like they would use it as a club than anything else.

The first person to reach her actually seemed to swing his sword down like one would a club, arm completely outstretched and going down in a linear line. Aiedail diverted the strike to the side with little to no effort, before the sword's sea-blue edge was once again marred by a maroon red as it plunged into the now exposed torso of the human in front of Loivissa.

The second person came a moment after the first had found his demise at the hands of Loivissa, although this one seemed to have learned from the mistake of his friend and instead tried to trap Loivissa by rushing past the still standing corpse of his friend, which still had Aiedail lodged through it, before he made a sideways strike that would have trapped Loivissa between the dead corpse and the wall of the hallway that they were in, if not for Loivissa's swift action of turning the dead corpse to take the blow instead of her wards, before she pushed the corpse towards her second assailant so that the tip of Aiedail, which had until then been protruding from the corpse's back, now found its way into yet another human's torso.

The second human gasped in shock as the blade pierced him, before Loivissa drew back her sword from both bodies, which afterwards tumbled to the ground on top of one another. She looked at the three bodies half in disgust at how easily it had been for her to kill them and half because she did not believe that any of them had ever done anything to deserve being killed.

The first and the third ones looked to be very young, far younger than Loivissa would have liked, while the second one looked to be perhaps in his mid-twenties. They would have had their entire life in front of them if it had not been for this war.

After quickly realizing that she was idling time pondering this, Loivissa squashed down the disgust and moved towards her objective; the drawbridge release mechanism. As she heaved and pulled on the mechanism, she heard the slow metallic screeching of a drawbridge being lowered down across the moat that surrounded Irisweld's innermost fortress.

It was exactly 34 days since Loivissa had joined up with Anax Manin's forces, and 42 days since she had left Mercury's forces. She knew these values to be exact because she counted the days every morning, constantly trying to somehow decrease the time until Anax Manin's forces reached Mercury's position.

Not that it mattered, because no matter how much she wished it to be otherwise, the rest of the army could only travel so fast, and if their tempo until now would be kept later on, then they still had at least an additional 10, if not 11, days' worth of travelling before they reached Mercury's position, and that was not even counting the time that they would spend holed up in this city.

Loivissa's nerves did not get any better by the fact that due to some magic trick, which she had never even heard of, all direct communication with Mercury's forces had been cut off. This meant that all news of the condition of the besieged now had to be forwarded through Ottaviano, which not only meant that updates were restricted to two times a week, but that by the time that Loivissa would finally hear of it, at least two to three days had passed since the report had been filed.

The reports were always objectively written, like one would write a record of the last year's crop production and consumption, but at the end of every report, there was one phrase that always stood out and never changed; we are still here.

To Loivissa, that one phrase meant a whole slew of things. One was the obvious that they were still there, still fighting, and she also guessed it to be Mercury's final touch to tell her personally that both he and Kilgharrah were still there, while another meaning to it was a constant plea for Anax Manin's forces to remember their struggles and try to move faster.

As Loivissa finished lowering the drawbridge, she could hear the yelling of countless dökkálfar storming into the innermost fortress of Irisweld. Soon enough, the last vestiges of the city's defences would either fall or surrender, and then they would hopefully be able to quickly quell the populace so that they could move on.

_Are you finished in there, dear?_, Adûn mentally asked Loivissa.

_Yes, I will be heading up to the roof any minute now_, Loivissa responded as she bolted towards the hallway with her three most recent victims in it.

Those three were not the only guards that she had killed in order to get in here, far from it, and as she backpedalled towards the very same place that had served as her entrance, she had the sickening joy of watching body upon body line the walls on her way. All of them had been killed by her hand.

When she finally reached the collapsed remains of a stone watchtower, it was to find Adûn landing atop the ruins like a hawk landing on a pole. This was where she had come in, where Adûn had trashed the then standing tower to allow her easy access inside, as well as neutralizing the contingent of guards that had taken refuge within it.

It was easy to jump from ledge to ledge on the broken watchtower until she reached Adûn's saddle, although she doubted that any human would have found the feat easy. Adûn swiftly took off as several archers on the roof directed their arrows his way, before he then circled around to scorch the entire roof section that had archers perched atop of it.

Loivissa's and Adûn's roles in this siege were largely over by then, as all that remained was for the foot soldiers to storm the throne room. It had been an easier and quicker siege than Kalt had been, this time only lasting four days, although it had still felt as far too long time for Loivissa.

It had not been until the first time that she had fought in a major battle with them that Loivissa had discovered just how different Anax Manin's northern army was from Mercury's First Sword. This army had the numbers to simply swarm the enemy defences with nothing but brute force and skill, while Mercury had constantly had to measure each unit's worth when he wanted to deploy it.

That was not to say that Anax Manin was a bad tactician, or strategist for that matter, but he simply had not been forced to either adapt or die, as Mercury had been. Speaking of Anax Manin, Loivissa and Adûn were descending down upon his golden command tent right at this moment to deliver the most recent news, if he had not already heard of them.

After entering and greeting Anax Manin, Loivissa learned that he had in fact already heard about the fall of the innermost fortress, as well as the recent surrender of the city's temporary leader. As she was still technically a representative of Mercury, Loivissa had to remain in the tent to listen to the official surrender by the now chained temporary leader that had been brought in there, as well as many other political discussions, which she could not care less about when every day that passed was a day more that Mercury had to fend off nearly impossible odds.

"_How long are we staying this time?_", Loivissa neutrally asked Anax Manin when there was just herself, Anax Manin and his entourage left in the tent.

"_We need to give the troops a chance to catch their breath and restore order to this city before we can leave_", Anax Manin replied, "_so I would say at least for another three days_".

"_Three days!?_", Loivissa exclaimed, "_every day that passes is a day more that my master has to find somewhere. We cannot wait three days, as that would mean that if we continue the pace that we have up until now, a fortnight will pass before we reach him_".

Loivissa had quickly learned that it was politically better for her to address Mercury as her master when speaking to Anax Manin and his entourage, as they somehow viewed her use of his name on a first name basis as inappropriate for an apprentice.

"_The troops have been fighting hard for days_", Anax Manin argued, "_they need rest before they can keep going_".

"_My master's men have been almost constantly fighting hard for more than a fortnight now, and under far worse conditions than we have. They need their rest too, but it will be an eternal one if we do not hurry_", Loivissa vehemently argued.

Anax Manin sighed tiredly, before he looked towards one of the old geezers in his entourage and asked, "_is there any way that we can move out quicker?_"

"_The options are limited, Supreme Commander_", the old geezer answered, "_remember that the men must still have the strength to fight when they get there, not to mention the numbers, so we cannot leave a force behind to clean up while we march on. We also have to consider the fact that despite the young miss's pleas, her master may not still be there when we do arrive, so if we push our forces too hard only to discover a fresh enemy army, then that could mean trouble for us_".

After that, Anax Manin did not say anything for a while as he pondered on what to do, before he finally said, "_give the orders for all but Serephine's group to immediately halt what they are doing and begin recuperating. They have until tomorrow at noon to get ready to move out again, while Serephine's group stays behind to secure the city_".

"_But Supreme Commander, leaving an entire group like that behind could endanger our own troops, and giving the order to march so soon after a battle will surely lower the morale_", the same old geezer tried to dissuade him.

"_I would rather leave 500 men behind than watch 3.000 more die in front of me_", Anax Manin said with a hard look at the old man, "_and if you are worried about troop morale, then why do you not go out and tell the men just why it is that we are in a hurry. That should put some spines back into the ones that complain that they have it rough_".

"_I- well…yes, of course, I will make sure that they are told so right away_", the old geezer said and hurried out of the tent.

"_Thank you, Supreme Commander. Your actions on this matter reflect greatly upon your status as leader_", Loivissa thanked him sincerely as she twisted her hand over her sternum and bowed, before she exited the tent as well, _we are coming, Mercury. Just hold on for a little longer_.

* * *

So, does anyone think that I would be cruel enough to let Loivissa's army drop in the day after Mercury's have been beaten?


End file.
